The Strength Of Love
by Creeper Magnet
Summary: SasuSaku. Sequal to It All Started with a Dare. Because Relationships are not all Rainbows and Roses...
1. What Love Means

A/N: Due to the many reviews and support I received for my fanfic "It All Started With A Dare" I have decided to write its sequel. Here it is, so I hope you like! Please R&R! If you haven't read my other story, feel free to wink wink

A/N: Oh and don't worry, this primarily focuses on Sasuke and Sakura (but the other relationships will be involved with the plot), even if this first chapter might not seem like it. It's just the introduction of everything!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with it.

The Strength of Their Relationship

Chapter One: What Love Means

Sasuke sat nervously as he watched Sakura dance with his best friend Naruto. He knew he had nothing to worry about as the blonde headed ninja had a girlfriend of his own who was actually the only other one at the table with him now. His other friends had ll now joined the pink-haired kunoichi and the knuckle-headed ninja on the dance floor. He glanced over to the blue haired girl noticing the worry that filled her white eyes. She sat ther pushing her fingers together with a look upon her face similar to his. He could tell, however, she was much more worried that he was.

"It's okay Hinata," Sasuke said as he scooted over to her, "the song's almost over. He'll be back beside you within minutes."

"I-it's n-not that," she stammered. "I-I'm just w-worried… Y-You k-know Naruto used to…" She cut off as her eyes fell once again on Naruto and Sakura.

"You have nothing to worry about; that was a long time ago." Sasuke said reassuringly remembering what it was Hinata was referring to.

"No Sasuke," Hinata stated defiantly, "You're the one who has nothing to worry about. I see the way Sakura looks at you. I know that look all to well." Hinata looked away back to her boyfriend and her best friend dancing. Sighing, Hinata continued, "It's the same look I give Naruto, the same look Naruto gives Sakura…" She trailed off as she pointed to the two dancing. Sakura was looking over their way smiling as she made eye-contact with Sasuke.

Sasuke's mind shifted from the conversation he was just having. Sakura looked absolutely radiant. She was positively stunning in every single way. She was smart, beautiful, kind, caring, strong, passionate, loving… The list seemed to go on and on. Sasuke's eyes softened. It had been almost a year since he had taken the dare that had changed his life. It had been a year full of surprises, happiness, and love- something Sasuke was sure he would never have in his life again. In short, it had been the best year of his life. Sasuke smiled as he continued to gaze at Sakura.

"It's the same look you're giving Sakura right now," Hinata stated dully cutting off Sasuke's thoughts as she plopped her chin on her hand.

Sasuke, being drawn back to reality, had forgotten Hinata was still there. "I'm sure you're just imagining it."

She laughed before replying, "I hardly thing so; you have it written all over your face!"

"I…uh…I…I wasn't talking about me," Sasuke blushed. "I-I was talking about Naruto."

Hinata raised an eyebrow as she examined him. Finally, she resigned, "Maybe… I hope you're right." She continued with her head dropped, "He still seems to compliment Sakura more than me." The tear she had been trying to hold back gently slid down her cheek and fell to the table below.

Sasuke couldn't imaging what Hinata was feeling right now, but it was obvious that she had been feeling this way for a long time. He wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea what to say. He placed his hand on her shoulder trying to giver her a reassuring smile. "Don't tell Sakura, okay?"

"I won't," Sasuke promised unsure of why she wouldn't want Sakura to know.

Suddenly, the music that had been playing stopped and changed from a slow, steady beat to a fast, upbeat one. Soon, Naruto, Sakura, and the others returned to take a break from dancing. Completely unaware of Hinata crying, they all sat down around the table and began to chatter.

"Thanks for allowing Naruto to dance with him," Sakura said with a smiled still oblivious to Hinata's tears.

"Yeah! Sakura-chan's a great dancer! Heck, she's the best I know!" Naruto blurted out. _'Wrong thing to say,'_ Sasuke thought to himself hoping Hinata had not paid any attention to the conversation. Hinata's cries grew louder as she looked up to Sasuke to reinforce what she had been saying earlier.

"She's been crying for a while now." Neji stated with anger in his voice as he examined his cousin.

"You knew, didn't you Sasuke-kun?!" Ino shouted jumping to conclusions

"Yeah…b-but I-" Sasuke stammered.

"And you didn't do anything to comfort her?!!" Tenten yelled as she slammed her fist on the table. "Sakura, what are you going to do about this?!"

Sasuke's eyes immediately shifted their focus to Sakura and only Sakura. Knowing what was going through everyone's mind, Sasuke tried to explain. "I…No… You've got it all wrong… I didn't… You don't under-"

Sakura shook her head in disappointment as she turned her head away from Sasuke diverting her attention to Hinata who was still crying. "Let's go to the bathroom, okay?" She asked as she helped Hinata up. Ino and Tenten followed suit, but shot Sasuke glares before doing so. Sasuke was speechless. How the night had just taken a drastic change Sasuke was unsure. Sakura's look of disappointment in him was engulfing him, twisting at his heart. Closing his eyes, however, he was happy to escape the glares of Ino and Tenten.

When Sasuke opened his eyes, he hoped that the glares he was receiving would have vanished to the bathroom. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he was still receiving glares from those who remained at the table.

"How could you Uchiha?!" Neji shouted shaking in rage. Neji was very VERY protective of his cousin. He would surely kick anyone's ass that dared hurt Hinata. Of course, he had always thought it would be Naruto, but he was not afraid to fight Sasuke Uchiha either.

"This is troublesome," Shikamaru stated bluntly. He knew he would be the one who would have to break up a fight between Sasuke and Neji. However, that wouldn't be no where near as troublesome as dealing with his blonde-haired girlfriend because he knew that she would be the absolute last person to drop what happened tonight despite it having nothing to do with her. He truly dreaded the next hours, days, or possibly even weeks that he would continue to hear her rant on and on about it.

"I didn't do anything!" Sasuke growled fed up with being accused of something he did not do. "You all can just shut up! Do you hear me?! You don't even know what you're talking about!" Sasuke had lost his temper now, but reasonably so. Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto stared at him in bewilderment, afraid of saying anything. "Naruto, come with me to the bathroom, now!" Sasuke ordered.

"Isn't that kind of girly? You know, having to have someone come with you to the bathroom?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head. He had hoped that his comment might lighten up the mood a little seeing as he couldn't do anything else to help.

"Shut up you dobe! And come on, NOW" Sasuke hissed. He clearly wasn't in the mood for Naruto's jokes. Naruto, on the other hand, quickly jumped to his feet and scurried to the boys' bathroom before Sasuke took even one step. Naruto didn't want to anger Sasuke anymore. Sasuke began to walk off, but before doing so, he turned around to Shikamaru and Neji. "Do either one of you have something to say?" They both quickly shook their heads no. They had never seen Sasuke this angry since he had started to date Sakura. They had forgotten exactly how scary the Uchiha could be if you got on his bad side. Assured that there would not be any whispers behind his back while he was in the bathroom, Sasuke gave the two one last glare before meeting up with Naruto in the bathroom.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as he entered the bathroom.

"I-I'm here Teme," Naruto stuttered sounding oh so much like his girlfriend who was in the bathroom beside them probably still crying.

Hearing the frightened tone of Naruto's voice, Sasuke tried to calm down. He didn't want to go around scaring everyone, especially not his best friend. Besides, it would be hard enough to get his point across to Naruto without being angry. Sasuke sat down by the frightened Naruto placing his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay now, I'm sorry. My anger gets the best of me sometimes." Sasuke stated calmly and compassionately at the same time as he remembered how Sakura had reminded him how scary he could be when he got angry.

Naruto straightened up and immediately felt at ease. He didn't need to fear Sasuke now. _'Wow, Sakura-chan has really worn off on him,'_ He thought to himself, _'though she's even scarier when she's angry, but they both know how to come around.'_ Naruto looked at Sasuke wondering if he should say something or not. "Did you need to tell me something, Teme?" He asked realizing that Sasuke probably wasn't going to speak unless he did.

"Yeah, kinda," Sasuke replied as he thought about how he could tell Naruto about Hinata.

"Is it about Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered still pondering how to tell Naruto.

"What is it?"

"I wasn't the one that made Hinata cry, Naruto,"

"Well, who did?"

"You."

"Me?" Naruto gaped confused about what he had just heard Sasuke say.

"Yes, you." Sasuke knew that this was going to be hard to explain to him. Naruto wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the bunch.

"How could it have been me, Teme?" Naruto apparently believed Sasuke; he wanted to know what it was that he did that hurt Hinata. That was the last thing he had wanted to do was hurt Hinata. He really cared about her and liked her a whole lot too. The idea that he even loved her often ran through his mind on a normal basis though he never said anything to her about it; he was too afraid to.

"Naruto, Hinata is … Well, She's insecure."

"Insecure?"

"Yeah, she is. You really mean a lot to her, and she's worried she doesn't mean as much to you. I think she kind of has the feeling that…," Sasuke stopped not wanting to even think that Naruto could still have feelings for Sakura, his Sakura. "She kind of has the feeling that maybe she'll always be second to your… um… first love." Even though Sasuke had always known of Naruto's past crush on Sakura, it wasn't something that he wanted to say out loud. It would make him feel uncomfortable as well as a tad bit jealous despite knowing Sakura was with him.

"How could Hinata-chan be second to herself?" Naruto scratched his head, "I don't get it."

Sasuke shook his head, "Naruto ga baka. I'm not talking about your first girlfriend. I'm talking about your first love." It pained him to say it again, but it was better than outright saying Sakura.

"But, Hinata-chan _is_ my first love, Teme. I never loved anyone before her."

"You… You love her?" Sasuke asked incredulously. He knew Naruto liked her, but that he loved her? He never realized the magnitude of his feelings for her.

"I... uh… Yeah, I do." Naruto replied very nervously yet somehow confident of his answer.

"Does she know?" Sasuke asked wide-eyed. He hadn't meant first love in the since of true love (even though it was the same for himself). He was happy for Naruto and happy for himself as well. Naruto never considered his feelings for Sakura that great. It made Sasuke smile to himself.

"Yeah, I… I guess she knows."

Sasuke stopped. Naruto was making the same mistake that he had made last year. "Have you told her you love her?"

"N-No…" Naruto replied as the nervousness began to resurface at the thought of telling Hinata his feelings.

"Then she doesn't know," Sasuke replied coolly as he crossed his arms. "You can't just assume that a girl knows how you feel about her dobe."

"But… you love Sakura, that means you had to tell her, doesn't it?"

Sasuke blushed. He had not expected that to be a question. He just assumed that Naruto would nod, possibly ask some advice, and then move on. Sasuke's memories of confessing his love for Sakura began to run through his mind- the "training", the ring, the feeling of nervousness, the weight that was lifted from his shoulders the moment the words fell from his mouth. All the memories caused his to blush more and more, until his face had reached a distinct shade of red. "Yes, I told her," Sasuke finally muttered despite the words choking up his in throat.

"How?" Naruto asked innocently.

"That's none of your business!" Sasuke snapped in retaliation. He wasn't comfortable talking about his feelings. He never had been. The only person he could talk about his feelings with now was Sakura, but that was different. He still had trouble talking to her about them sometimes; he still got nervous a lot of times.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted a few pointers. That's all." Naruto said realizing that he had asked too much.

"Well, all I can say is, well, just trust your heart. I did, and look how that turned out." Sasuke smiled a huge grin realizing exactly how wonderful his life was with Sakura. Not one day had he ever regretted telling her he loved her. It was obvious that he did and that it was the right thing to tell her so.

"Thanks Teme!" Naruto shouted as he started to run out of the bathroom door.

"Hey Naruto! Don't be complimenting Sakura all the time too!" Sasuke shouted back at him realizing that he had forgotten the reason why he had wanted to talk to Naruto in the first place. He didn't know whether or not Naruto had heard him, but he had a feeling that things were going to work out even if he didn't.

Soon after Sasuke and Naruto had returned to the table, the girls returned from the bathroom, apparently all in a better mood than when they had left. Ino and Tenten were no longer shooting glares at Sasuke. Hinata had stopped crying, although she still seemed a little down. Sasuke smiled to himself knowing that her spirits would be up as soon as Naruto confessed his feelings for her. He didn't know when he was going to tell her, but knowing Naruto, it would be soon. Sasuke was the most relieved to see that the look of disappointment she had previously worn on her face had vanished. However, a still, awkward silence had taken a hold of the group of friends as it seemed that no one was going to speak.

"I'm sorry," Tenten finally muttered after about ten minutes. "I had no right to accuse you Sasuke about something I didn't even know about." Sasuke didn't know what Hinata had told them in the bathroom, but he was glad that they knew he wasn't the cause of Hinata's cries.

"I'm sorry too Sasuke-kun," Ino admitted. "I was wrong as well." Neji and Shikamaru exchanged looks of confusion, but upon hearing the apologies, they realized that they had been wrong as well.

"We're sorry too, man," Shikamaru and Neji swallowed hard. It was hard for guys to admit they were wrong, especially for Neji who had threatened Sasuke.

"It's okay, I understand," Sasuke said meaning every thing he had said. After all, his past attitude towards people wasn't full of flowers and bunnies. Plus, he was the only one that had been there with Hinata when she started crying. Hinata gave him a small smile.

Sakura started to say something, but was quickly interrupted by an outburst by Naruto.

"I LOVE YOU HINATA-CHAN!"

Everyone's jaw dropped except of course of Sasuke's. He knew that it wasn't going to be long, and besides that's how Naruto and Hinata shared their first kiss-an outburst in front of everyone at his slumber party when playing spin the bottle. Outbursts like this were Naruto's, what you would call style.

Hinata's reaction wasn't as what everyone had expected. Her eyes started to shine, and her smile grew bigger than anyone had ever seen. Instead of turning seven shades of red and then passing out, she threw her arms around Naruto knocking him into the floor and kissed him making Naruto turn seven shades of red and then passed out.

"They're perfect for each other," everyone else chuckled in unison.

* * *

Once again the music began to slow to a familiar, smooth and steady beat. "It's our song," Sakura whispered in Sasuke's ear with a smile on her face.

"I know," Sasuke replied as he stood up taking hold of Sakura's hand. It was the same song Sasuke and Sakura had shared their first dance together to. Both Sasuke and Sakura smiled to themselves remembering the event fondly. Sasuke had grown much more graceful since their first dance, however, when he needed the help of both Sakura and his Sharigan. Now, neither needed each others' help as it seemed they both glided effortlessly along the dance floor. Sasuke pulled Sakura close so that he could feel the beating of her heart and kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you," Sasuke smiled.

"I love you more," Sakura smiled back with a small chuckle before her expression turned serious. "I'm sorry too. I didn't know what to think, and everyone was accusing you and--" Sasuke interrupted her by planting a kiss on her lips.

"What part of 'I love you' don't you understand?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

Remembering a movie they had watched together not to long ago, Sakura repeated with tear of happiness in her eyes, "Love means not having to say sorry."

"I love you Sakura."

"I love you too Sasuke."

They sealed their love with a long, passionate kiss. All eyes fell upon them. They were making the whole room jealous once again.


	2. Surprising Questions

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I really like this story, and I have a lot of ideas so I think it might turn out to be longer than my last story!

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately still don't own Naruto or the characters associated with it.**

* * *

The Strength of Love

Chapter Two: Surprising Questions

Sasuke awoke to a smiling Sakura who greeted his awakening with a kiss to the forehead. "Good morning Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed obviously happy that Sasuke was now awake. Everything was going to plan, and Sakura knew she was going to surprise Sasuke. Sasuke, on the other hand, smiled groggily at her wondering what it was she was so happy about. She couldn't have possibly known about his surprise for her, could she? He reached under his pillow. It was still there, and it seemed to be untouched.

"How long have you been here?" He asked as he looked at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed which read 7:00 am.

"All night of course," She replied still grinning from ear to ear.

"All night? Did we…?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow trying to recall the night before.

"Of course not silly," Sakura replied raising her eyebrow, "if we did, don't you think you'd remember it? Especially being the first time and everything…" She finished muttering the last part under her breath.

"You're the one who wants to wait," he reminded her mumbling.

"Only until the moment's right!" She replied defiantly as she crossed her arms in front of her and sat back down on Sasuke's chest.

"You're heavy," Sasuke grunted in a playful manner.

"And you wonder why the moment's never right?" She pouted. Sakura was so cute when she pouted- the way she would twitch her nose, the way her eyes would get all big and glossy; Sasuke loved it all. Actually, he loved everything about her, every minor detail. He loved waking up to Sakura every chance he got even if it was only during a mission. He had always thought that Sakura was especially beautiful in the mornings thought when her hair was still a mess from the previous night sleep, her make-up still undone, and always wearing that radiant smile of hers. It was surely a sight Sasuke loved waking up to. He gazed at her trying to absorb the magnitude of her beauty realizing how lucky he was to have her.

"Any moment with you is always right," Sasuke said not applying it to the previous conversation, but to life in general.

Sakura smiled, "You mean it Sasuke-kun?"

"Of course I do," Sasuke answered as he pulled Sakura down to giver her a 'good morning' kiss she would always remember. Sasuke rolled over, now on top of Sakura pinning her down by holding both of her wrists. Enjoying the kiss for a few minutes longer, Sasuke pulled away fro Sakura with the same ear-to-ear grin that Sakura wore. "Good morning Sakura."

They both shared a laugh before Sakura realized that Sasuke was not going to let her up. "You're not going to let me up are you?" She asked knowing the answer.

"Not until you answer a few questions," Sasuke smirked.

"Well what do I get out of it?" She asked returning a smirk.

"I'll let you up of course,"

"Hmm," Sakura thought. "Well seeing as I don't mind the current position, I think you better think of something else if you want to get any answers out of me," She finished causing Sasuke's ears to turn red.

"Well what do you want?" He mumbled still a little embarrassed by Sakura's last statement.

"Aww… You're so cute when you're embarrassed." Sakura teased knowing how to push Sasuke's buttons.

"Sakura…" Sasuke stated wanting to hurry up and get to his questions. He hadn't planned for Sakura to be so playful, and seeing how long it was taking, Sasuke was losing confidence by the second.

"Fine, I demand kisses as payment for my answers." Sakura smiled causing Sasuke to perk up. He had a feeling they both were going to like this game. He smiled in agreement to her conditions. "Okay, shoot," She laughed knowing where this was going to go. After all, it was all part of her plan.

"How did I end p staying at your apartment?"

"Easily, it started thundering so I insisted you stay."

"Okay," Sasuke leaned down and kissed her. "Why did I want to stay?" He asked trying to see if Sakura had caught onto his plan.

"Because you're afraid of lightning," Sakura laughed.

"Sakura, I use chidori for heaven's sake; I hardly think I'm afraid of lightning."

"Fine," Sakura resigned, "you like my cooking, and I promised I would make your favorite, tomato pancakes!"

Sasuke laughed, "That's more like it." He gave her another small kiss.

"Next question," Sakura smirked as Sasuke pulled away from her. She loved this game, mainly due to all the extra kisses she was getting.

"How did you end up in my bed?"

"I told you. You're afraid of lightning."

"Sakura…"

"Oh alright, I'm afraid of lightning, and I wanted to be with you. I knew you wouldn't mind so I let myself in." Sasuke leaned closer and gave Sakura yet another small kiss.

"And what made you think I wouldn't mind exactly?" Sasuke asked out of curiosity.

"Because you think I'm drop dead gorgeous of course. I mean, after all you did give e an '11' on a scale from one to ten." Sakura chuckled. She was REALLY starting to love this game.

"Good answer," Sasuke kissed her while his ears began to turn red from embarrassment of the dare that had started it all.

"Sasuke-kun, why is your heart starting to beat so fast? I thought this was all in good fun," Sakura asked noticing Sasuke's heart rhythm had begun to pick up its pace.

"Sakura, I thought I was the one who was asking the questions."

She shrugged it off. "Then continue," she smiled hoping to steal more kisses from her raven-haired boyfriend.

"Why don't I remember any of this?" He questioned knowing that he had been too preoccupied for the last few weeks to realize what he was doing half of the time.

"Simple," Sakura replied, "you're memory sucks."

"Does not," Sasuke retorted.

"Does too. What day is it Sasuke-kun?"

"Sunday," He replied confident in his answer.

"And?" She asked drawing the word out in a playful manner. She had him exactly where she wanted him now.

"And what?"

"It's you're birthday." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "Happy Birthday Sasuke-kun!"

He was shocked. He had completely forgotten today was his own birthday. He had been too preoccupied with his own thoughts. He had planned everything, every minor detail, but he had forgotten his own birthday. He had had a plan for today, but apparently Sakura had plans of her own. _'So this is what she had been so happy about,'_ Sasuke thought to himself remember the grin on Sakura's face he had opened his eyes to. He still had a trick up his sleeve though. After all, he was Sasuke Uchiha.

"You had this all planned?"

"Yep!" Sakura grinned from ear to ear.

"Me staying, everything?"

"Yep! Well, of course I couldn't have planned the storm, but it work to my advantage!" He grin grew even wider obviously proud of herself. "And I've got the whole day planned full of surprises too! Isn't that great Sasuke-kun?"

"Wonderful," he replied trying to think of his next move. He had planned too much. He had come too far to give up on his plan now. Sakura tried to get up, but he hadn't released his grip yet. She gave him a confused look and started to say something, but Sasuke cut her off. "I still have more questions."

"Okay?" Sakura's emerald eyes searched his face for answers, or rather the questions he was going to ask.

"Do you love me?"

"More than anything,"

"You know you mean the world to me right?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun. You've told me numerous times, and you've showed me even more times." Sakura glanced to the silver band with emeralds inset in it on her finger. That ring had never left her finger since Sasuke had given it to her. To Sakura, it was the tangible evidence of the bond between them. Sasuke released his grip allowing her to sit up. His onyx eyes met hers. His heart calmed. He had never been so sure in his life.

"I love you Sakura."

"I love you too Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke put his arm around Sakura's shoulder. Sakura slipped her arms around his waist and snuggle her head up against his chest. Everything felt right.

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"Anything," Sakura gave him a squeeze as she lifted her head to meet Sasuke's gaze. Everything was still.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, yea I know stupid cliffhanger. Hope you'll R&R! My next chapter will probably be up soon withing 3 days at the absolute most! **

**Next Chapter: Interruptions.**


	3. Interruptions

**A/N: When there's a whole section in italics, it's a flashback... I hope it's not too confusing! **

Disclaimer: I still do not own Naruto.

**The Strength of Love**

**Chapter Three: Interruptions**

* * *

"What?" Sakura asked in bewilderment assured that what she thought she heard was completely different from what was actually said. Her emerald green eyes widened as she stared at the raven-haired boy who was sitting across from her with his head drooped.

"Sakura, I don't like repeating myself," Sasuke whispered losing all confidence in himself. Now that was unlike an Uchiha. He hadn't been the same since he had started dating Sakura. He was nice, sweet, and a generally happy person. However, the change had its downfalls as well. He was no longer confident- well, at least when it came to talking about his feelings with Sakura.

Sakura continued to stare at Sasuke still in shock from what she had just heard. Did Sasuke Uchiha seriously just ask her to marry him? No. He couldn't have. It was just- It couldn't have happened. She couldn't believe it. She was positive that she had heard wrong.

Sasuke reached under his pillow and tossed her a small velvet jewelry case. Sakura stared at the case wondering what she should do with it. _'Open it you idiot,'_ She thought to herself. Somehow, it wasn't just that simple. If she opened it and saw that it wasn't a ring then she would be disappointed severely, but what if it was? It made sense and all; Sasuke had been preoccupied lately and seemed to always be distracted when around her. She continued to stare at the little velvet case until curiosity got the best of her. Either it was an engagement ring, or it wasn't. It was as simple as that.

Sakura slowly opened the case as if she was embracing herself for the latter. Her eyes began to feel with tears as she stared at the contents of the jewelry box. It hadn't been the latter. "Sasuke-kun, is this what I think it is?"

Sasuke lifted his head to make eye contact with her before speaking. "Sakura, you mean the world to me. I know we're both still really young, and people say you can't trust a young heart, but Sakura," His voice trailed. He couldn't stop now. He couldn't just turn around and act like it never happened. It was too late for that. It was all or nothing. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have a heart." Sasuke finished remember how cold and dismal his life had been before letting Sakura into his life. He felt like he was insane-that he had seriously just lost his mind. He could tell that Sakura felt the same way. He knew her answer. "I'm sorry. I'm stupid for thinking I could ask something like this of you." He sighed. "I'll just be going now, forget how stupid I've been."

"Sasuke-kun, you're not even going to let me have a say in this?" She said in a small voice still staring at the ring she held in her hands. It was beautiful. It had a diamond in the center surrounded by a unique carving of silver on each side. At the end of each of the carving was the symbol of the Uchiha clan- a fan. Sasuke turned around sheepishly as he started to sit back down on the edge of the bed. "Look at me, will you?"

Sasuke finally allowed his gaze to meet hers. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she didn't seem sad. She had the biggest smile on her face despite the vast amount of tears that were sliding down her face. She instinctively threw he arms around Sasuke's neck causing him to fall off the bed. Confused, Sasuke sat up as he rubbed the back of his head searching Sakura's face for her answer. "Sasuke-kun, I would love to."

Sasuke shot up with a smile on his face the size of Sakura's. His heart felt like it was about to burst from the amount of happiness he felt. "Seriously?" He couldn't help but ask. It all seemed too good to be true.

"Seriously," Sakura answered wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I love you," Sasuke whispered before lightly kissing her. He took the ring from Sakura and placed it on her finger, "and always will."

Sakura nodded too filled with a mixture of emotions to answer. She was still shocked at the event that had just unfolded, but she was beyond happy. She was going to marry the love of her life, what more could she want? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Now how about those tomato pancakes?" Sasuke laughed as his stomach growled.  
"You idiot," She laughed as she got to her feet.

"Allow me," Sasuke instructed before gabbing Sakura in his hands bridal style. After all, she was soon to be his bride. He smiled at this thought. He was going to marry the most beautiful girl in Konoha, but he was marrying more than that. He was marrying the best there was to have.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were enjoying the kisses they were sharing as they entered the kitchen.

"Am I interrupting something?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow as he examined the couple.

Sasuke started to answer as Sakura leapt down from his arms and answered first, "No, nothing." Sasuke glared at Shikamaru, but then turned his head with a look of confusion to Sakura. He was interrupting something. He was being an annoying interruption to his time with his new fiancé. He couldn't understand why Sakura hadn't said anything.

"What do you mean nothing?" Sasuke whispered in Sakura's ear.

"Can't you tell something's bothering him?" She hissed back at him as she pointed out Shikamaru's glum expression.

"Can't you tell something's bothering me?" He asked clearly annoyed.

Sakura raised her eyebrow and glared at him. "He's our friend."

"You're my fiancé!"

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be." Sakura crossed her still glaring at Sasuke.

"Why do you always bring that up?"

"Well, it's true. He's the one who dared you to take me out on a date. You would have never done it other wise."

"You have so little faith in me." Sasuke growled. He knew what she said was true, but he didn't need to have it thrown in his face all the time. Sakura was always doing stuff like this- always worried about helping others because 'that's what friendship is all about.' He never knew what it was that was going through her head. He even doubted their relationship sometimes though he would never admit it to anyone. He didn't doubt his feelings, but her feelings he wasn't always sure of. He saw that he had enough reason to doubt their relationship as it was- Sakura being as great as she was and everything. It wasn't like she _needed_ him or anything. Then he had his past to worry about. He had broken her heart repeatedly when they were younger. It was just unreasonable to think she couldn't hold that against him. Plus, she was good friends with a lot of guys. Now she was just letting them interrupt their time together. He sighed, but his trust of Sakura's feelings sometimes faded, especially at times like this. He gave Sakura a pouty look.

"We'll talk about it after he leaves," Sakura whispered compassionately to Sasuke not wanting to argue in front of Shikamaru.

"Hn," Sasuke replied as he moved over to the kitchen table and plopped down next to Shikamaru who was oblivious to the whole conversation that had just went on. _'Okay, so something really is bothering him,'_ Sasuke thought as he examined Shikamaru who was just staring off into space. Shikamaru was, to say the least, observant on a normal basis, but today he just seemed… out of it. Something was definitely bothering him.

"So what's wrong?" Sakura asked as she placed a stack of pancakes on the table.

"Nothing…" He moaned.

"Well, it's obvious something is bothering you; it's written all over your face." Sasuke added with a hint of bitterness in his voice causing Sakura to shoot yet another glare at him.

"Well, Ino and I had another argument. I don't know how much longer I can take it. She's just so damn troublesome!" Shikamaru exclaimed about ready to pull his hair out.

"That's too bad, but I'm sure she'll come around," Sakura noted placing her hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, "After all, she really does like you. It's just… she's Ino." Sasuke stared at the pink-haired girl's hand.

"It's not that. She's just troublesome. She's always going on about something, and it's like she thinks I don't have needs either. You know, she always thinks it has to be about her. Well what about me? Don't I count sometimes?" He sighed.

"Of course you do. You shouldn't question that. Ino probably doesn't realize what it is that she's doing. I know Ino, and she does have good intentions, but," Sakura glanced at Sasuke who had backed away from the table, "they just get distorted sometimes and it ends up all about her."

"Well I need somebody who understands me and is more independent and a whole hell of a lot less troublesome." He stated bluntly.

"Shikamaru…" She placed her hand against his cheek to turn his head towards her. "Ino loves you. Trust me, she does. Relationships aren't all rainbows and roses. It's just something you two will have to work through, and trust me you will."

Sasuke was boiling inside with anger. _'How can she just… touch him like that especially in front of me? And after I just proposed to her!'_ He thought to himself. He didn't know what was getting into him. He had never been mad at Sakura before, but now she was just being damn annoying. He still loved her though, but one thing Sakura was right about. Relationships aren't all rainbows and roses. _'But it used to be…It always had been before this…'' _Sasuke sighed to himself. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even been paying attention to the rest of the conversations

"Thanks so much Sakura," Shikamaru said as he got up, "I'm going to go talk to Ino right now. Hopefully, everything will get better. Heck at least I can try to make it work, even if it is troublesome."

"No problem," She smiled as she gave Shikamaru a hug. "Everything will work out, and it'll be worth the trouble, you hear me?"

Shikamaru returned the smile as he waved goodbye and walked out of the door. Sakura watched him leave as her attention flashed back to Sasuke. "What was that all about?" She asked genuinely compassionate.

"What do you mean what was that all about?" Sasuke hissed. He had never realized he could ever be angry with Sakura, not since they started dating.

"The glaring, Sasuke-kun. If looks could kill, Shikamaru would have dropped dead in our kitchen."

"Well, you were the one who was all over him… touching and that sort of things."

"I was being friendly!" Sakura replied defiantly obviously offended by his last statement.

"Hn,"

"Sasuke-kun, what has gotten into you all of a sudden? You were fine just a minute ago, but now you're all… cold and bitter." She asked as she sat down next to Sasuke.

Sasuke tried to not make eye contact with Sakura knowing that if he did, all of his anger would melt away. It always did. He couldn't resist though, she was captivating and it was hard to not make eye contact with her.

"I'm so-" Sasuke started before Sakura interrupted him with a smile.

"I love you Sasuke-kun," She smiled.

"You know I love you too, but-" Sakura placed a finger against his lips.

"Then what part of 'I love you' don't you understand?" She smirked. He smiled and gave her a small kiss. "We're still going to talk about this Sasuke-kun," She said sternly.

"What's there to talk about?" He asked not wanting to confront the feelings and thoughts he had been having just a few minutes ago.

"He's our friend. We have to help him."

"Well, he was being an interruption. For heavens sake Sakura, we're newly engaged, he didn't have to interrupt!"

"He doesn't know we're engaged," She stated.

"Isn't the ring on your finger hint enough?"

"Do you honestly think he noticed that in the state he was in?"

Sasuke sighed. She was right. There was no way that he could have noticed. He didn't even notice that they had been having a conversation about him before Sasuke sat down with him. "Still…"

"I think it's better that way," Sakura said as she stared at the engagement ring on her finger remembering the night when Hinata was crying in the bathroom.

"_I can't believe Sasuke would cause Hinata to cry!" Ino exclaimed as she paced back and forth through the bathroom._

"_Yeah, the nerve of him. Sakura, what are you going to do about him? He's been a total ass to Hinata!" Tenten agreed kicking in one of the doors to a stall. _

"_He's… he's not an ass… You don't know him like I do." Sakura turned away trying not to make eye contact with her friends. "Hinata, are you okay?" She asked diverting her attention to her crying friend despite her other friends still bickering in the back ground. _

"_SHUT UP!" Hinata finally cracked annoyed at the bickering by her other friends. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about, and besides you know that you're only trying to make Sasuke out to be an ass so our miserable lives don't look so bad! Why the hell are you trying to make Sakura's just as bad? Are you that bad of friends to try to crush her happiness just because you're jealous of her relationship!?" _

"_What?" Sakura asked confused and somewhat shocked at her 'quiet' friend's reaction. She looked to see how her other friends had taken her outburst. Both Ino and Tenten were now sitting helplessly on the floor with tears welling up in their eyes._

"_The truth is Sakura," Hinata stated, "our relationships aren't rainbows and roses like yours is. Sasuke didn't make me cry; he was trying to comfort me because I'm too insecure about my own relationship. These two over here are having their own _

_problems too so I think they jumped at the opportunity to make it seem like you and Sasuke are just like the rest of us to kinda… lessen the pain… I guess."_

_Sakura looked around in bewilderment. She heard what Hinata had said but she didn't comprehend it. What did she mean 'relationships aren't rainbows and roses'? Everything appeared to be fine with their relationships; she hadn't the slightest idea that anything was wrong. _

_"I'm sorry Sakura," Tenten glanced up wiping away her tears, "Hinata speaks only the truth. Neji and I, well we can't communicate well and it's tearing us both up inside I can tell. I try to shrug it off as a normal thing, but then I see you and Sasuke. It makes me realize that it's not good, it's not acceptable, and things should be so much better."_

_"It hurts seeing your relationship grow and blossom and be so perfect while ours are just… withering like a flower with out water. It hurts, Sakura, it hurts." Ino whimpered as she tried desperately to fight back the tears in her eyes. "Shika-kun and I always fight. It's like he doesn't even care about me anymore. You're really lucky to have Sasuke-kun."_

_Hinata agreed, "You should see the way he looks at you. Seeing that look is what made me cry knowing that Naruto would never look at me so lovingly."_

_"Who would have thought that cold hearted bastard would be so perfect?" Ino let out a small laugh as she shook away her tears. _

"What? Why?" Sasuke asked drawing Sakura back to the real world. Sasuke didn't understand. He wanted the whole world to know, but Sakura, she wanted to hide it. Why? He couldn't think of a good reason. Was she ashamed of him or something of that sort?

"Because I don't want everyone to be jealous of our love," Sakura said honestly as she cuddled up next to Sasuke. He didn't believe her, but kissed her on her forehead anyways. He didn't want to offend her, and he didn't want to fight. This feeling of insecurity hadn't existed before today, but neither did the overwhelming feeling of joy either. After all, he was going to marry the love of his life. He loved Sakura, he knew that, and he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and only her. He stared off into space trying to sort out all of the emotions that were running through his head thanks to the interruptions.

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**A/N: I wanted to reply to a few reviews from all of my chapters thus far so here we go (ID names will probably be abr.)-**

**DarkPetal: You're probably one of my most faithful reviewers! Thank you! I'm glad you like my stories! You're reviews seriously make me want to write more!  
**

**Kawaii-llely: You're first review was soo cute! I'm glad that you're enjoying my stories too! You've pretty much hit the nail on the head with your one comment about Sasuke... if you can't tell by this chapter lol**

** Jaques-chan: Yes, when writing that part I laughed, it made me think of my best friend who is always pointing that out. lol. I'm glad the humor came off to you as well. Thanks for your review!**

**PureDevil: Yeah, I know what you mean about Sasuke's character, but it's kinda how I left him at the end of "It All Started With A Dare," so I kinda had to continue it. Don't worry though, his character and attitude will start changing throughout this fanfic so I hope you still like it.**

**Tenshihana: Yeah, I kinda wanted Sakura to say no too, but she just HAD to say yes. I hope you still like it though. I just wanted to let you know I knew what you meant! Oh and I'm glad you liked my last story, but I'm even happier that you like this one! **

**Ravengrl: Yep. Same Here. I hate cliffhangers in other stories, but love them in mine. Lol. I dunno. I wasn't going to leave the last chapter as a cliffhanger but when I wrote it, I felt like that's where it should just end. I hope I didn't keep you in suspense too long! **

**& To Everyone else: Thanks for all the great reviews! They really make me want to keep writing more and more. Thanks soo much and I hope you like my story!**

**Next Chapter will probably be up in less than a week (I'm just saying a week in case something comes up)  
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	4. A Smile and A Kiss

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!**

**Disclaimer: My parents refused to get me Naruto for my birthday so unfortunately I still don't own it. **

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The Strength of Love 

Chapter Four: A Smile & A Kiss

Sasuke stared at Sakura secretly admiring her beauty. He liked to watch her when she was thinking. It was obvious that she was thinking because she would stare off into space and bite on the side of her bottom lip just as she was doing now. It was clear that she wasn't paying attention to the movie she had invited him over to watch despite her staring straight at the television screen. She was apparently off in another world. Sasuke wondered what she was thinking about, but shrugged it off. He was comfortable exactly here he was- his head in her lap and her stroking his raven black hair.

Sasuke was lost in a world of his own too. It had been over two weeks since his birthday- two weeks since his proposal. They could was yet to discuss any plans for the wedding. They were also yet to tell any of their friends of their engagement either. He wondered why Sakura wanted to hide it from their friends, but he figured they shouldn't be in any rush. They were just 18, but he had never been so sure of himself in his life despite being so young. He loved Sakura, and he knew he wanted to marry her. They may have not been in any rush, but his body was filled with anticipation for the day he could call Sakura his wife.

A lot had happened in the past few weeks which Sasuke had found himself rewinding over and over in his head. He had proposed to her, and she had said 'yes.' Fortunately, Shikamaru and Ino made up. Despite having their normal bickerings, every thing seemed to be going fine between the two which pleased Sasuke tremendously. Not that he particularly cared about their relationship- he never really was too fond of Shikamaru or Ino for that matter- but he was glad that there had been no more "interruptions" in his alone time with Sakura. It seemed as if every time one of their friends had a relationship problem, they would come flocking to them. And of course, Sakura would stop everything she was doing and try to help them. She had too big of a heart sometimes in Sasuke's mind.

They both had seemed to get over their little bickering they had had after Shikamaru's interruption as well. Sasuke had gotten of her insecurities and jealousy for the most part in the last two weeks as well. He had become slightly less social, but he blamed it on their friends being so damn annoying with their relationship problems. He felt like that was all he heard about lately, whether it was from Sakura or their friend directly. As of late however, e had shown no interest in spending time with anyone other than Sakura. He had come to appreciate the silence in which they spent together such as this occasion. A passing smile and a small kiss had said enough for the both of them.

"I think we should have a winter wedding," Sakura smiled breaking the silence as she looked down at Sasuke still stroking his hair.

"You've been thinking about the wedding?" Sasuke asked as he looked up at her. Somehow, he had thought that the wedding had been the last thing on her mind with all of those annoying "interruptions."

"Of course, haven't you?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

"Well kinda, but with all of those interruptions lately," Sasuke blushed not wanting to admit that he had been picturing Sakura looking radiantly in a wedding gown.

"You mean our friends," Sakura stated rather frankly.

"Yeah, our friends," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "The whining ones that come running to us for every little thing."

"Well they need our help Sasuke-kun." She said defending their friends.

"Well I still don't see why you always try to help them," He snorted.

"You helped Naruto and Hinata didn't you?" Sakura asked fully aware of the answer.

"Hn," He grunted. He was about just as much willing to admit that he had a soft spot for the blonde headed dobe and his girlfriend as he would admit he liked that purple ass ribbon he wore when training with Orichimaru.

"See? They're our friends. We're obligated to help them."

"Whatever," Sasuke said trying to change the subject, "What about a winder wedding?"

"Huh? Oh right…" Sakura had forgotten what it was she was saying but quickly remembered. "I think we should have a winter wedding. You know, when the snow is on the ground, but not too much, just enough to cover the grass." She finished staring off into the distance as if she was imagining it.

_'So this is what she was doing earlier,'_ Sasuke thought recognizing Sakura's stare. "You've been thinking a lot about this haven't you?"

"Yeah, kinda," She blushed knowing that she had been planning their wedding since they were placed on the same team as genins. She would have never imagined that all of her plans would be real, though, but now they were. She was going to marry Sasuke Uchiha.

"Tell me about it," He said sincerely wanting to picture the wedding Sakura had imagined.

Sakura smiled at Sasuke's interest. "Well, it would be outdoors at night under a full moon and a sky full of stars. We wouldn't need much light because the snow would reflect the night sky." She stopped noticing Sasuke's closed eyes, "Are you even listening to me?"

"Mhm," Sasuke nodded. He was trying to picture the wedding she was describing. "Go on," He added pleased with the image in his mind.

She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before continuing, "Well we would be married under a trellis which would be lit with Christmas lights. I would want it to be a small wedding with maybe 30 guests at the maximum. Hinata would be my Maid of Honor. Wait… Who's going to be your best man?"

"No one."

"Sasuke-kun…" She said warningly.

"Fine, the dobe." Sasuke stated bluntly with his eyes still closed.

"Don't call him that!" Sakura snapped.

"Fine, Naruto, is that better?" He answered opening one eye, "Now will you continue?"

"Aww… You're interested in our wedding!" She grinned from ear to ear.

"No. I'm merely entertained by the situations you're describing. I am not remotely interested in our wedding or anything of that sort. You act as if I proposed to you or something…" Sasuke stated bleeding sarcasm with every word he spoke.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, "At least you're not just imagining the honeymoon."

"Ooooh that's nice too; let's describe that shall we?" Sasuke smirked before receiving an elbow to the stomach.

"Well, the reception would be inside of course, and our wong will be the song we first danced to on our first date."

"I'll Be?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun, 'I'll Be'. What else would it be? Oh never mind…" Sakura rambled off, "I want it to be played on violins and other string instruments though; it'll be much more romantic that way."

"Women and romance these days," Sasuke mumbled starting to sound like Shikamaru.

"Oh you know you love it!" Sakura teased.

"No, I love you, and you love romance. There's a difference." He stated dully.

"Oh you can be such as smartass sometimes," She mumbled.

"You know you love it." Sasuke laughed. It felt good to laugh. He hadn't laughed in a while.

"No. I love you, and you love being a smartass; there's a difference." Sakura mimicked.

Sasuke shrugged it off. "December 14th," He stated as he pointed towards his hair which Sakura had stopped stroking.

"December 14th?" Sakura questioned confused by what he meant by 'December 14th.'

"That's our wedding date." Sasuke told her rather than asking her.

"What?"

"The day of our wedding; jeez Sakura,"

"Okay," She agreed knowing that Sasuke was not going to change his mind, "It's a date… I guess we should start planning? December's not that far off."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. Sakura thought she had broken him of that habit, but ever since he had proposed, it had resurfaced.

"Oh it's going to be perfect Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed gleefully.

"Hn," He grunted again.

"You can stop grunting now," She said clearly unamused.

"Well, what's the point Sakura?" He asked suddenly finding himself bitter.

"How am I supped to know the meaning of your grunts? That's the point, Sasuke-kun, so I can understand you!" Sakura finished crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"That's not what I meant. What's the point of planning a wedding? No body even knows we're engaged!" He hissed.

"But Sasuke-kun, I thought we both agreed that no one knowing yet would be the best thing for righ-"

Sasuke cut her off, "No Sakura, you agreed for us."

"But Sasuke-kun, you just don't understand," She said quietly knowing that she hadn't told him why she thought they should wait to tell every body. She just didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Dammit Sakura, you're so annoying." Sasuke stated both coldly and harshly as he sat up with his back turn to Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun…" She whimpered.

Sasuke immediately shot back to his sense upon hearing the hurt in Sakura's voice. _'What did I just say?'_ He thought trying to convince himself he didn't just say what he thought he did. How could he be so cold, so heartless? He could hear her sniffles behind him; he knew she was crying.

"Sakura…" Sasuke turned around placing his arm around her shoulder. She snuggled her head up against the crook of his need. He felt as if a kunai was being driven thought his heart- if he had a heart seeing as so heartless he had just been- as one of Sakura's tears dropped onto his bare shoulder. He was the sole reason she was crying. He had secretly promised himself that he would never cause her to cry again on their first date after realizing exactly how many tears he had caused her over the years. But now he had failed himself; he had failed her… He had hurt her. He looked down to see Sakura trying to wipe away her tears.

"Well, we'll need to invite your parents, Tsunade, Shizuni, Jiraiya, Iruka…" Sasuke trailed off.

"What?" She sniffled.

"Choji, Shino, I guess we could invite Gai and Lee, oh definitely Kakashi, and Kiba… hmm I don't know who else there is to invite to our wedding. 30 is a high number Sakura." Sasuke stated while scribbtling the names down on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked noticing the tears flooding from her eyes had stopped.

"I'm making an invitation list for our wedding. We need to start planning. After all, December 14th isn't that far away," She said trying to give her a small smile.

"What about Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji?" She asked as she dried her face.

"Well Hinata and Naruto have to come seeing as they're going to be the maid of honor and best man, but I figured the rest could be bridesmaids or groomsmen."

"Sounds good to me," She laughed, mainly at herself for how easily she had gotten upset. It was only a few words, and Sasuke didn't mean them. They still hurt, but she knew he didn't mean it. She smiled at Sasuke.

Sasuke still felt incredibly guilty though. He was going to marry her. If she had her own ways of going about the engagement, so be it. The important thing was that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her, and he couldn't keep hurting her like this.

He tried his best to return her smile. Inwardly, he tried to push those feelings of bitterness, jealousy, and insecurity aside. He couldn't talk to Sakura about them; he was afraid he might hurt her. He would have to deal with them on his own. He pushed his thoughts aside as his kissed Sakura on the cheek and laid his head back down in her lap where she continued to stroke his raven black hair. The silence returned, but as he had said before, 'a smile and a kiss was enough.'

"Hey guess what today is!" Sakura said breaking the silence after a couple of minutes.

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**A/N: This chapter may have came off pretty pointless, but trust me; it'll actually play a bigger role in the rest of the story. I also wanted to describe Sakura's and Sasuke's relationship when no one was around. Plus, I kinda wanted to use this as a turning point in the story. I can't say too much because I don't want to give it away, but within in next 2 or 3 chapters, the story is going to take a drastic turn. Please R&R! **

** Oh and to answer some reviews- **

**CAMEO: Haha I like you're idea a lot. I kinda already have where I'm planning to take this story, but I would love to write a one-shot about your idea after I finish this story!**

**Kawaii-llely: You're reviews are too cute. They make me laugh, but you're also dead on with a lot of things! I love reading your reviews **

**els1234 & Ms. Itachi Uchiha: Hehe I'm glad you like the sequal. I have to admit I was kinda worried that people weren't going to recieve it as well as "It All Started With a Dare", but I'm glad that you guys like it!**

**PureDevil: Totally know what you mean. I kinda feel that way too, but trust me that's something that _might_ come up later in the story. I'm really sorry that chapter 3 was a little confusing, but I'm really glad that you like it though! I love hearing your input**

**To Everyone Else: You guys' reviews seriously make me want to write more. I know I've already said that, but it's soo true! A lot of people say stuff about how I update so soon, but it's not because I've already written the story, it's because of the reviews I get! It makes me want to let everyone know what's going to happen next. I love to read all of your reviews and keep 'em comming wink wink**

**Next Chapter: Feeding the Fire  
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	5. Adding to the Fire

**A/N: This is a shorter chapter, but I hope you guys still like. This chapter was really hard to write, but I think it's because I don't think that my writing is that good or this story for that case. I mean compared to other stories on here... Ehh.. I feel like a whiney baby now... I'll just stop now... Oh well, here you guys go. The next chapter of The Strength of Love. **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. **

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The Strength of Love

Chapter Five: Adding to the Fire

Sasuke glanced back at a waving Sakura. Her eyes were still red from where she had been crying earlier. He still felt guilty knowing that he was the one who had made her cry. Still, she stood strong in the door way of her apartment with a smile on her face as she continued to wave bye.

"Bye Sasuke-kun! Have fun, okay?" She shouted to him.

"I doubt it," He mumbled to himself. He knew that Naruto's "boys' nights in" have been anything but fun. The only reason why he was going tonight was because he could tell Sakura wanted him to go, and he didn't want to argue with her. He had already hurt her once today; he didn't need to get in an argument with her as well. He turned around to wave goodbye before he was back on his path towards Naruto's apartment.

"Remember, we all have a group date tomorrow night too! Please remind Naruto to make plans with Hinata; you know he'll forget if you don't remind him!" She continued to shout so that he would hear her. "Hey, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke could hear her footsteps running towards him. "What no-" He started as he turned around, but he was cut off as Sakura through her arms around his neck.

"You forgot my goodbye kiss of course!" She laughed. She didn't want him to go to Naruto's little slumber party being so down. He hadn't said anything to her about being down, but she knew him better than anyone in the world. He couldn't fool her. Something was bothering him, but she didn't know what. She thought about asking him what was wrong, but she didn't want to push him. Sasuke was never the type to talk about his feelings, but she knew he would come around sooner or later and talk to her about them.

Sasuke looked away from her with regret. He would feel guilty about kissing her after he had made her cry, but he did so anyway. He gently brushed his lips against hers and then quickly turned around. He didn't want to make eye contact with her. "Sasuke-kun?" He heard Sakura mutter to herself as he walked away.

He couldn't help but wince at the sadness in her voice as he walked away. It had only been a whisper but it seemed to echo in his ears. _'I don't deserve her…' _Sasuke thought to himself as he continued walking towards Naruto's apartment. He knew he didn't deserve her; he always had known it, but he never wanted to admit it. He had even forgotten for the longest time, but now that was all that ran through his head. He didn't deserve Sakura. She deserved so much better. He was nothing but a burden to her. All he could do was hurt her. He still wasn't good enough.

Sasuke was so consumed in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized that he had reached Naruto's apartment. He was late like usual, but that was only because he didn't want to hear all the complaining about how boring it was going to be from the other guys. It was always boring. There wasn't a point of complaining about it once they were there. After all, they didn't have to come.

"Where's Sasuke-teme?" Sasuke heard Naruto asking as he walked into the apartment.

"I'm here dobe."

"Oh good."

"This is bothersome," Shikamaru added.

"I don't see why we always have to do this," Neji stated bluntly as he stared at Naruto.

"You know, this really is boring," Naruto said to the surprise of everyone else. He apparently noticed all the shocked stares he was receiving. "What?"

No one said anything. Everyone just continued to stare at the blonde-headed ninja who had just spoken. Was it really possible that Naruto had realized how lame these get togethers were?

"Why do you always bug us to come then?" Kiba finally spoke up.

"Because, I thought we were all friends and that it would be fun to hang out with each other." Naruto muttered with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I guess not." Neji said as he looked down.

Sasuke was utterly shocked at the number of depressed faces that filled the room. It didn't seem like there was even one smiling face in the entire room. The atmosphere felt like one where someone had just died. He knew that he was depressed, but apparently he wasn't the only one. Something must be bothering everyone else too.

"Why aren't you so down Uchiha?" Kiba asked noticing that Sasuke was the only one who wasn't looking depressed like the rest of them. Sasuke was good at masking his feelings. He had done so ever since his family had been massacred.

"Hn," He grunted as a reply to Kiba's question. He was down, but he didn't have to tell anyone how he felt. He wasn't obligated to do anything.

"All Hinata does is cry lately," Naruto said looking up clearly ignoring everything else around him. His blue eyes were filled with sadness. It was rare to see the bubbling blond not excited, but upset instead. It was almost as if a part inside of him was dead.

Sasuke felt bad to see his friend so down so he sat down next to him though he didn't say anything.

Shikamaru spoke up, "Well that's better than always fighting with your girlfriend." Apparently things between him and Ino weren't better like Sasuke had suspected. If anything, it seemed like it had only gotten worse since the last time Sasuke had seen him.

"Well even that's better than not being able to speak to your girlfriend. Tenten has been avoiding me since our last date. I don't know what happened, but I don't know how much longer I can take this," Neji said as he looked out the window. Sasuke had no idea that things between Neji and Tenten were rough. "I guess, I'm just meant for someone else." Sasuke scowled inwardly at that remark. He didn't care who he was meant for as long as he stayed far away from Sakura.

"At least you all have girlfriends," Kiba stated bluntly as he stroked Akamaru's fur. Everyone looked up in surprise at Kiba's remark. They hadn't realized that he didn't have a girlfriend. They all knew, but it just hadn't hit them that he didn't.

Sasuke accidentally snorted out loud. He had remembered how Kiba had said that Sakura was a '10' before he had started to date her. His last remark made him wonder if Kiba wanted _his _fiancé.

"Oh shut up Uchiha!" Neji scowled at Sasuke.

"Of course you don't know what it feels like to be in our shoes. Your relationship with Sakura is just rainbows and roses." Shikamaru hissed. Why did everyone keep using that phrase?

"You really don't deserve her," Kiba snapped. Akamaru barked in agreement. _'So he does want her,' _Sasuke thought to himself as he glared at Kiba. His suspicions had been confirmed. Well, not really considering he had just made a remark, but it was good enough for Sasuke.

"Exactly, Sakura deserves so much better than a cold hearted bastard like you Uchiha. She's beautiful, smart, nice, and loving. She's loved you for so long, and all you can do is hurt her." Neji hissed. Since when did he know anything about him and Sakura's relationship? Had Sakura said something to him about it? Sasuke wondered if Sakura had said anything about their relationship problems to any of the guys.

"You know she's probably the only one who would have taken your sorry ass back after you returned to Konoha." Shikamaru snorted. Why were they all ganging up on him?

"You should have seen her face after you left. She couldn't fight back the tears because she cared so much for you though I don't know why. There's nothing special about you." Neji glared at Sasuke Uchiha, but Sasuke was consumed in his own thoughts. He looked towards his best friend who hadn't said a word since the discussion had started.

"Naruto?" He asked knowing that he would know what he meant.

Naruto looked away from Sasuke for a minute, but then turned back and sighed, "Yeah, she was devastated."

Sasuke hadn't realized exactly how much his leaving had hurt Sakura. He had always imagined that it did, but he hadn't realized the magnitude of her feelings for him then. After all, they were only 13. He couldn't imagine that someone that young could have cared so much.

"I'm going out on the roof. You all can continue criticizing me if you want." Sasuke said in a defeated town as he walked out the front door and lept onto the roof.

The stars were really bright that night, and the moon was full. Sasuke sighed as he began to sort out his thoughts. There was so much he had never paid attention to. There were so many things he tried to ignore. He had taken for granted the one person that had cared for him continuously.

He was jealous now after hearing the way the rest of the guys had spoke about Sakura. He knew everything that they had said about her was true, but they weren't supposed to think that. Why had she been on their minds long enough for them to realize that she was special?

He was insecure now too. He didn't deserve her. He had always known it. He had even admitted it to himself now, but hearing it from others didn't help. Sakura was a great person and all he could do was hurt her. He was a cold hearted bastard just like the rest of them.

Sasuke closed his eyes and pictured Sakura. She had been acting weird lately. She didn't want to tell anyone of their engagement. Was she ashamed of him? Or was it possible she had realized that she deserved better than him and didn't want everyone know that she had settled for less?

The remarks of the others were biting at him. Each of them had pointed out something he had already known, but somehow it only made him feel worse. Relationships were rainbows and roses, especially now not in his case.


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

**A/N: This chapter may seem confusing as it was confusing for me to write, but I hope my point came across. **

**Disclaimer: Yep, my right to Naruto did not come in the mail today so no I still don't own Naruto. **

* * *

The Strength of Love

Chapter Six: The Calm Before the Storm 

When Sasuke returned inside of Naruto's apartment, everyone had gone to sleep. He decided to do the same, though he had a hard time sleeping seeing as his feelings of insecurity and jealousy haunted his dreams. By the time he awoke the next morning, Kiba, Neji, and Shikamaru had left; only Naruto was still there. His apartment was a mess seeing as none of them were actually neat and organized people. Sasuke, feeling bad about abandoning his party, decided to stay and help.

"I'm sorry," Naruto muttered as he passed Sasuke a dish to dry.

"Hn," He grunted.

"You didn't have to stay and help," Naruto stated as he took another dish to wash.

"Hn," He grunted once again while stacking a dish on the pile beside him.

It was obvious that Naruto was still in the same funk he had been in the previous night. It was strange to see Naruto down, but it was even stranger to see Naruto down for a longer period of time. It was like someone had shut down Ichiruka Ramen, and Naruto had just found out.

"You know, the guys are just jealous of you and Sakura's relationship right?" He asked trying to break the stifling silence that had fallen upon them.

"Hn." Sasuke could do nothing but grunt. He didn't know what to say. Besides, if anyone knew how on the rocks their relationship had become as of late, they would hardly be jealous.

"They just think Sakura-chan's a great girl. You can't blame them, can you? I mean, she's nice to them. I guess they figure if they had her like you do, they wouldn't be having the relationship problems they were having."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. There was that idea of others wanting Sakura running through his head again, but then something hit him that he had never thought of before. What if Sakura realized so many guys wanted her? Or worse, what if they actually started to pursue her? _'Hmm…_'Sasuke thought to himself,_ 'I don't think I have to worry about Naruto. If Sakura wanted him, she would have gone for him a long time ago. Besides, I really think he wants Hinata. After all, he never got this down over Sakura.' _

As if reading Sasuke's mind, Naruto stated, "As for me, I'm happy with Hinata. I just… I wish I knew what was bothering her, you know? It kills me to see her cry."

Sasuke nodded and continued evaluating what he thought was his "competition." _'Kiba doesn't seem like Sakura's type; he's much to like Naruto- just slightly less obnoxious and annoying. Shikamaru is smart like Sakura, but for some reason I just don't see any connection between them. I think they're just friends. Neji, however, I can see Sakura liking him. He's a prodigy after all. Plus, he seems to like her too. He sure did compliment her the most out of the rest of them last night.'_ Sasuke worried. Neji was his biggest competition. Sakura might actually like Neji, but he only had one relief about that. As far as he knew, Sakura and Neji never really talked to each other so he didn't have to worry about that.

"You know, Sasuke-teme, you are really lucky to have Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he passed the last dish to Sasuke. "She really loves you a whole lot even though you've hurt her. I think she's forgiven you for that too so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Besides, she's been ga-ga over you since like forever!" Naruto laughed as he said that last part.

Sasuke nodded, "We have that group date tonight again, remember?"

"Oh yeah! That's right! Hmm… Maybe if I get Hinata-chan some flowers and take her out for ramen then she'll cheer up!" Naruto said excitedly. Yep. Naruto was getting back to being Naruto.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he placed the last dish on the stack. "The flowers are a good idea, but I think you should try something else for dinner. Ramen does get old after a while," He tried giving Naruto some advice. He had a soft spot for that dobe and his girlfriend, but he still wouldn't admit that out loud.

"Really?" Naruto asked while his eyes widened. It was obvious that the blond couldn't fathom getting tired of ramen. He lived for ramen and ate it everyday, and he was yet to get tired of it.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. He had had enough of talking for now. Besides, he had his own problems now he had to face. Like Naruto, he hoped that the date of Sakura's dreams would help their relationship problems (even though they mostly seemed to be on his end). Heck, she might even tell the others of their engagement.

Within the next couple of minutes, Sasuke packed his things and left Naruto's apartment after reminding him to make plans with Hinata first. He knew Sakura would have wanted him to make sure that he had made the plans before leaving, but he had plans of his own to come up with. He wanted to make tonight's date the date of Sakura's dreams, and in order to do that, he had to plan.

* * *

Sasuke glanced at his watch which read 5:24 pm. _'Just in time,'_ He thought to himself as he neared the corner just before Sakura's apartment. He had already dropped by earlier to let Sakura know to be ready by 5:30, a half an hour earlier than they had previously planned. He had spent the rest of the afternoon planning the date of Sakura's dreams. Now, it was time to put it into action. He had shaken away all previous thoughts of insecurities and jealousy, and he was ready. He was ready to completely sweep Sakura off of her feet. 

As Sasuke turned the corner, his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There, right on Sakura's doorstep stood both Neji and Sakura hugging… tightly. Sasuke slipped back around the corner so he couldn't be seen. Another few moments passed before they parted. Neji took Sakura's hand and brushed his lips against her soft skin. A faint pink blush crept upon Sakura's cheek. Neji flashed her a small smile and then waved goodbye, walking in opposite direction from Sasuke.

Sasuke fumed. _'What the hell was that all about?!'_ He was ready to kill the Hyuga, but instead waited around the corner for a few minutes longer to make sure Sakura had re-entered her apartment. He wondered if he should say something to Sakura about it, but he decided against it. If everything went as planned tonight, he wouldn't have to worry about the competition (Not that he really had to in the first place, but he didn't know that). Still, it bothered him, but he would just have to act as if he never saw anything. After all he was a Uchiha, and Uchihas could do anything.

He shook the image of Neji kissing the hand of _his_ fiancé out of his mind as he approached Sakura's apartment. He knocked on her door and waited for her to answer. Normally, he would have just entered, but he wanted tonight to be special so he just stood outside of her apartment waiting- half trying to be a gentleman, half in fear of finding that Sakura was not alone in her apartment.

Within a few moments, Sakura came to the door with a huge smile on her face as she greeted Sasuke. She was still wearing her robe which made Sasuke feel rather uncomfortable seeing as he realized she had only been wearing her robe while Neji was there as well. As much as he tried to stop thinking about it, he couldn't. The image of Neji kissing Sakura's hand, as well as some other indecent thoughts about the Hyuga, kept running through his head.

"Are you going to come in Sasuke-kun?" Sakura smiled sweetly as she observed the raven haired boy staring off into space.

Being drawn back to reality, Sasuke smiled as he entered her apartment. Nothing looked out of place, but he was sure that if he had a nose like Kiba he would surely smell Neji all over the place. "That bastard," He mumbled out loud forgetting where he was again.

"What was that?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrow at Sasuke who had been muttering under his breath.

"Oh nothing," He replied. He needed to stay focused. How was he going to sweep Sakura off her feet if he couldn't keep his mind off the scene he had just seen? _'Keep focused. Act. As. IF. You. NEVER. Saw. ANYTHING.' _He repeated to himself over and over in his head. He was going to have to stay focused. He HAD to.

"Are those for me?" Sakura smiled as she pointed to the bouquet of flowers Sasuke was holding. He hadn't given her flowers since he had left them on her doorstep about a year ago. Heck, he had never managed to be as sweet as he had been when they had first started dating, but he had his moments, and those moments were always more than enough for her.

"Who else would they be for?" Sasuke replied smoothly trying to mask the turmoil of feelings inside of him. Sakura's grin grew wider as she thanked him and rushed off to put the bouquet in water. _'So far, so good,'_ He thought to himself noticing that he was making Sakura happy. He was going to make this their best date ever- even better that their first date, which would be hard to top if he had to say so himself.

"Sakura, are you ready?" He asked noticing she hadn't returned.

"Almost!" She shouted back down the stairs with her cute chuckle at the end. Oh how he loved to hear her laugh. It was not only pleasing to the ears, but was a good indicator that she was happy. He smiled to himself. He had a feeling things were going to start looking up.

Sasuke sat down on Sakura's couch as he began flipping through one of Sakura's photo albums. It was the one she made purely for them, as a couple. He couldn't but help smile to himself as he continued to flip through the pages. The pages were plastered with pictures of Sakura latched on his arm, arms around his neck, and even one of them kissing. He blushed trying to think of who exactly had taken the picture. Seeing the pictures of them together somehow seemed to sooth Sasuke's mind. There wasn't even one picture where Sakura looked as if she would rather be any where else in the world. Maybe he was just being silly about the whole insecurity thing. After all, by the looks of it, he had nothing to worry about.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whispered in his ear as she sat down beside him on the couch. She was still wearing her robe, but her hair had a few soft curls running throughout it. She was actually wearing make-up which somewhat surprised Sasuke seeing as she hardly ever touched the stuff anymore. She didn't need it anyways. "You said it was a special occasion earlier." She laughed almost reading Sasuke's mind.

She had always said that she could read his mind just by looking in his eyes. She believed that looking into someone's eyes were a doorway to someone's heart. Sasuke had always laughed at her theory, but she did seem good at reading him at times. Maybe she had some kind of point after all.

"We're going to be late, aren't we? It's already past 5:30." She stated as she looked at a clock on her wall.

"You're wearing a robe, Sakura. I hardly think you're ready. Besides, I only told you 5:30 so you would be ready by 6:00." He laughed at the last part. For some reason, it always took Sakura 30 minutes longer to get ready for their dates. He was sure that this wouldn't change for this date either.

Sakura chuckled, "Touché, but I think I've proven you wrong this time."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Sakura who continued to chuckle. "I don't see how," He stated dully. He hated to be wrong.

Sakura stood up still chuckling and slipped off her robe, "Well do you now?" She was wearing a short blue dress with a frayed bottom showing off the features of her legs. The top was low cut showing off even more of her feminine features. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched; she always did this to him.

"You're such a temptress," Sasuke said coolly trying to push the 'indecent' thoughts that were running through his mind.

"Am I really?" She flashed him a huge grin. That was the types of compliments she was used to getting from the raven haired boy.

"I mean," Sasuke stated remembering that he need to be 'totally sweet' as Sakura and her girlfriends would put it, "You look marvelous." That sounded good, right? Well, it was true, whether or not how good it sounded.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled in somewhat a shock. She wasn't used to _actual_ comments from him. He had only done that once before, and she was sure that he was only trying to impress her.

But that was exactly what he was trying to do now too. Sasuke glanced at the clock. "Okay, so you've proven me wrong by 6 minutes." He wasn't going to admit to anymore than that. After all, he hated to be proven wrong.

"Ha!" Sakura shouted, "I knew that getting dressed earlier would come in handy. It's a good thing I had that robe though, because I would have surely spilt something on it during some part of the afternoon."

"You've been wearing that dress all afternoon?" Sasuke asked eyes widening with only one thought running through his mind.

"Yeah, I was only wearing the robe so I wouldn't get it dirty. I started getting dressed right after you dropped by and said you were picking me up early," She replied not knowing what he was getting at.

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that Sakura hadn't just been wearing a robe when Neji was over set comfort to his mind. He really didn't have anything to worry about. "Shall we?" He asked smiling as he put his arm out for Sakura. His mind was at ease.

"We shall," She chuckled taking his arm as they walked out of the door. She didn't know what had gotten into Sasuke, but he had seemed to be in a whole lot better mood. Maybe a night out with the boys had helped him.

Sakura's thoughts trailed as she walked hand in hand to their unknown destination. She couldn't help but think about what her friends had said to her on their last group date. She didn't understand what they meant. Sure, she and Sasuke shared a great relationship, but how did they know? They danced together, but ever since their first date, they hadn't shown the least bit of a public display of affection. Hinata did say something about the way Sasuke looked at her, but was it something as simple as that? She didn't know. She had hoped that her friends' relationships would have gotten better by the time of their next group date, but by the looks of it, they hadn't.

"Sakura?" Sasuke stopped abruptly letting go of her hand.

"Hmm?" She looked up whimsically wondering what it was he fiancé wanted.

"I love you."

"I love you more," She chuckled. This was the one argument she liked to have with him.

"Psh, you wish," He said as he slipped his arm around her waist and continued walking. He liked holding her like that rather than holding her hand. He felt like he could protect her that way. Holding her hand just made it to easy to let go. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a meaningful squeeze.

He smiled. He had nothing to worry about.

Well that was what he thought until they reached the dance hall. He could have sworn the moment that Sakura entered the view of the Hyuga boy his eyes lit up. _'That son of a bitch.' _He thought to himself. He glared at him as he pulled Sakura closer to him. She was _his. _Sakura, however, was unaware of his glaring towards Neji. Actually, she was kind of flustered that he was still holding her in front of their friends. It wasn't like him. For a second, she worried how it would affect her friends seeing as they all had already looked down before they arrived, but for once she decided to put herself first. She liked Sasuke holding her, and they would just have to deal with it. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Who cared if they got jealous?

The rest of the night seemed to have been filled with similar events. Sasuke would glare at Neji for even looking at Sakura, who seemed to be oblivious to everything going on around her. Then Sasuke would find himself smirking at the Hyuga when Sakura would whisper something in his ear or rest her hand on his chest or anything of that sort. He was enjoying himself. All in all, it was turning out to be pretty boring seeing as no one was dancing from their table. _'Aa, complete waste of time…' _Sasuke thought to himself he took Sakura's hand and started to play with her fingers. He smirked at Neji who was getting fed up with Sasuke's attitude.

Ino began to strum her fingers impatiently waiting, no, expecting Shikamaru to ask her to dance, but he didn't. He just stared at her and raised an eyebrow while muttering something about troublesome. She rolled her eyes and glanced at Tenten who was sitting with her back faced towards Neji and his arms crossed. She nodded at Ino and joined her on the dance floor, both who were muttering something about their boyfriends being bastards. Hinata sat staring off into the distance hoping Naruto would try to comfort her, and he did. Good ole Naruto. He could be dense sometimes, but he was reliable. Soon, they both left for the dance floor when a song they both recognized came on leaving Neji, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Sakura, and a strange atmosphere at the table.

"Hey, I normally don't do this kind of stuff, but would you like to dance?" A blonde asked out of no where. She was wearing fishnet stockings and her hair four distinct pony tails.

"Me?" Neji inquired as if assuming she was talking to him.

"No," She said bluntly causing Sasuke to snort, "him." She pointed to Shikamaru.

"I don't dance." He replied raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Oh get off of you lazy ass and come on," She said as she started to yank him away leaving the already dense atmosphere at the table to become even more dense.

"Sasuke-kun, would you like to dance?" Sakura asked him as he had wrapped his arm around his shoulder. She didn't like the feeling of this atmosphere.

"Of course," She smiled towards her, "Let's go request _our_ song." She gave his waist a squeeze as they got up. Sasuke threw another smirk over his shoulder towards Neji who was now sitting at the table by himself. As Sasuke saw it, it was exactly what the bastard deserved.

After asking the DJ to play their song, the music slowed to the familiar beat of "I'll Be." Sasuke, forgetting about trying to make Neji jealous, led Sakura into the middle of the dance floor with out a hesitation. Sakura always seemed to tear up whenever this song was played. It was just so special to her. After all, the song really did seem to apply to them. Well, at least she thought so; Sasuke had never said anything to her about it.

Sasuke pulled Sakura close. He didn't want to let her go. Sakura smiled at the closeness and rested her head against his chest. Rather than dancing, they more of stood there, in the middle of the dance floor embracing each other, rocking back in forth to the slow steady beat. No, not the beat of the music, but the beat of each others hearts. This was what made the others' jealous.

"Sakura?" Sasuke whispered into her ear. He had been planning this.

"Hmm?" She replied into his chest.

"You know this song kind of reminds me of us," He said meaning what he had said. When they had first started dating, he had never really paid any attention to this song. Heck, he didn't even know what it was, until Sakura brought it up one day. Soon, he found himself intrigued by the lyrics, and ever since then he too had thought the song applied to them, and only them.

"Really? You think so?" Sakura asked drawing her head back to look Sasuke in the eye. She loved his uncanny to read her mind sometimes.

"Well think about it Sakura, everything in the song is true about us, don't you think?" He asked smiling, yet somewhat anxious of her answer.

"Yea, but it could reply to any couple," Sakura replied trying not to be so gushy about these types of things, but secretly she was happy that he thought it applied to them, and only them.

"Yeah, but there's one thing that could only apply to us; well more specifically you." His smile somewhat weakened. He wasn't comfortable talking to Sakura like this. He had been nice to her before, but this- well it was even more personal than when he asked her to marry him.

"What's that?" She asked as she rested her head back into his chest.

"You're my survival. You my living proof- my love is alive, not dead." He repeated the lyrics knowing there was no better way to express what he meant as he placed his hand on the back of her soft pink hair. He could feel a tear soak through his shirt, but he knew it was a tear of happiness and smiled.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," She whispered into his chest. That was by far the sweetest thing he had ever said to her.

"AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" Ino suddenly shouted from across the room bringing Sasuke and Sakura back into the real world again. She was yelling at the blonde in the fishnet stockings.

"Temari," She said simply and then diverted her attention back to Shikamaru. "Thanks for the dance lazy ass."

"Troublesome," He mumbled, but Sasuke was sure he had caught a glimpse of a smile on his face.

"How could you?" Ino asked him trying to fight back tears in her eyes.

"It was just a dance okay? I didn't really have a choice…" He said as his eyes trailed off to the blonde who was already walking away. Something big was about to go down, and no one else (meaning Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Sasuke, or Sakura) wanted to stay and find out.

* * *

On their way home, Sasuke had made a point that he wanted to ask Sakura something. He was resting his arm around her waist, but then suddenly removed it. "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked letting go of his waist. 

"Why do you always wear that ring?" He asked referencing the ring he had given her over a year ago. He was curious. He didn't think he had ever seen her go a day without wearing it. Heck, he didn't think she had ever taken it off since he had given it to her. He had always noticed it, but he didn't know why he had made a point to ask her now.

She blushed, "It's kind of my proof of the bond between us. It's become a part of me now. I'd feel naked without it." She flashed him a smile. He had never known how much that ring had meant to her, no one did for that matter.

"I love you," It was not like Sasuke to tell her this twice in one day, but Sakura smiled.

She hugged his waist before looking up, "Hey, Sasuke-kun,"

"Hmm? He asked as he looked down to the pink haired girl.

"The moment's right," She said seductively. He knew exactly what she was hinting at.

It was like they were in love all over again, not that they had fallen out of it. Sasuke knew that their relationship problems were over, but even the great Uchiha could be wrong sometimes.

* * *

**A/N: Umm... So I hope you got the whole point of this chapter. It's supposed to be the calm before the storm (hence the title of the chapter) so expect something big in the next chapter. Umm.. I didn't mean to leave you with yet another cliffhanger; I know it has to be getting somewhat annoying, but hey I update soon so spare me! sweat drops  
**

**The Reviews I received for the last chapter were especially helpful in writing this one especially one from Kawaii-llely-chan so this chapter is for you. I hope you like it. I still want to reply to some other great reviews though too! **

**Tenshihana- I'm really sorry to hear about that. Trust me I know how those kind of problems feel. I'm really honored that you reviewed my chapter despite what was going on. You're really becoming one of my favorite fans. **

**Sakura's Undying Love- Hehe, I'm glad you like that about it. Don't worry. This chapter doesn't go back to ruin everything you had just said in your review. This is not Sasuke's and Sakura's Happily Ever After. Thanks for the review!**

**CherryBlossoms- Wow. I seriously think you reviewed in less than 5 minutes after I posted the new chapter. Go you! **

**SakuraUchiha- I'm really glad you're a new fan. I hope you like this chapter too! I love getting new fans! Hehe. **

** & To Everyone else: I love getting reviews. They really make me happy even if I'm having a bad day. Thanks for everyone who reviews. **

**Next Chapter should be out soon.  
**


	7. The Fight that No One Expected

**A/N: I don't know if all the technology or what not in this chapter is appropriate for the actual time setting of the anime, but let's just role with it okay?**

**Disclaimer: Dude, just no. **

* * *

The Strength of Love

Chapter Seven: The Fight No One Expected

Sasuke slammed Sakura up against the door kissing her both passionately and ferociously at the same time. Breaking apart only for a minute to gasp a breath f air, Sakura fumbled for her keys to try to unlock the door to her apartment while Sasuke nibbled away at her neck. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura's petite body as Sakura continued to try key after key for the door. _'Why does Sakura have so many damn keys?!'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he grew more and more impatient.

"Mmphm… ahh… got it… Mmmphm," Sakura gasped between breaths of air and kisses. She had finally got the key in the door when Sasuke pushed her back up against the door causing the keys to fall to the ground. "Damn it," She let out breaking away from their passionate kiss.

Sasuke was getting fed up now. He pulled Sakura as close as physically possible indulging himself in a battle of the tongues. "Sasuke-kun," Sakura moaned causing Sasuke to lose it.

"Fuck it," He said as he kicked down the front door pushing Sakura inside beginning yet another passionate, but rough kiss.

Pulling away, she looked Sasuke in his onyx eyes, "You know you're going to have to- Mmmphm." Sasuke cut her off by taking advantage of her opened mouth. Sakura soon forgot her train of thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck running her fingers through his raven hair.

Sasuke grabbed her by the back of her slender thighs and picked her up with her legs now straddled around his waist. He quickly made his way up the stairs and into Sakura's bedroom. He gently laid Sakura down on the bed as she begun to undo his shirt, one button at a time. "Mmphm… Argh.. This is taking… Mmmphm... Too long," He said as he ripped his shirt off tearing the buttons off as he did so.

"Impatient ehh Sasuke-kun?" Sakura pulled away from their kiss giving Sasuke yet another seductive look before pulling him back down into another kiss. Sasuke gently slid Sakura's dress off enjoying the parts of Sakura that had always been clothed. She was in nothing but her bra and panties now. She looked even more attractive than Sasuke could have imagined making him only want her more. He frantically undid his belt to his pants and kicked them off.

**Ring….Ring… Ring… **It was Sakura's cell phone lying at the end of the bed in her purse. "Forget it," Sasuke whispered into her ear.

"Okay," She replied knowing that she was not going to forget it. She grabbed the back of Sasuke's head with one hand and pulled him close creating another passionate kiss while her other hand reached for her purse to pull out the cell phone. Sasuke, clearly distracted, consumed himself in their kiss not aware of Sakura's cell phone. Sakura flipped it open as she slyly opened one of her eyes to see the message she had received.

"Oh Kami." Sakura shouted as she pushed Sasuke from off of her.

"What?" He asked wondering what it was that had caused Sakura's sudden outburst.

"Shikamaru dumped Ino! I have to go talk to them."

Sasuke stared blankly at her while anger bubbled up inside of him.

Sakura frantically rolled out of the bed in search of her dress. Finding it, she pulled it over her head and headed towards the door.

"What the hell Sakura?" Sasuke shouted blocking Sakura's exit from the door.

"I know! I thought things were getting better too! Ohh I bet it had something to do with that Temari girl." She said as she tried to get around him.

"That's not what I mean!" He growled as his anger grew by the minute. Could she possibly think he was more concerned about his so-called friends' relationship at this moment in time?

"Then what the hell do you mean?" Sakura replied clearly annoyed that Sasuke was still blocking her exit. Did he not just hear her? Shikamaru and Ino just broke up. She had to talk some sense into them.

"You can't possibly be thinking about going after Ino," Sasuke stated as his eyes narrowed.

"No, I'm not. I have to talk to Shikamaru first and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Her anger was now growing inside of her as she began to shake with rage. "Get out of my way!" She shouted as she pushed Sasuke out of the way.

"You're running off to another man at a time like this?!" He hissed loud enough for her to hear him. He couldn't believe that Sakura was seriously going off to see another man. Suddenly, jealousy boiled up inside of him.

"Do what?" Sakura snapped as she reappeared at her bedroom door.

"You heard me! The moment was finally right, and you're running off to another man!"

"They're our friends!"

"You're my fiancé!"

"They need our help!"

"How do I know that?"

"How do you know what?" She hissed furious that he was questioning her.

"How do I even know that Ino and Shikamaru broke up?! How do I know that you're not just running off to see that Hyuga behind my back?!" Sasuke finally snapped. All the feelings of bitterness, jealousy, and insecurity he had been holding back finally erupted.

"Excuse me?" Sakura's eyes narrowed clearly offended by Sasuke's accusation.

"I saw you Sakura! He kissed you and you didn't even say anything about it!"

"He kissed my hand!" She shouted before something else dawned on her. "You were spying on me?! Do you really think I'm that unfaithful?!"

"I wasn't spying on you! I was coming to pick you up for our date! It's not my fault you just let other men kiss you in public! I was bound to see it!"

"It was my hand! And you're jumping to conclusions!" She screamed as she tugged at her hair.

"I don't have to jump to conclusions! I know what Neji said about you at Naruto's stupid thing AND I saw the way he was looking at you ALL FREAKING NIGHT LONG!" He jumped up as he slid his pants back on as it was clear their previous 'activities' were not going to continue.

"What?" Sakura asked curious to what the Hyuga had said about her.

"I knew you were interested in him!" He shouted taking Sakura's curiosity as interest in Neji.

"I AM NOT! We are JUST FRIENDS!" Sakura screamed. She couldn't fathom where all of this was coming from. "Maybe, I said yes too soon," She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked hearing that Sakura was now mumbling.

"I said," Sakura paused unsure of what to say. "Maybe, I said yes too soon." There was strain in her voice as she struggle the words out.

Sasuke starred at Sakura obviously hurt and in shock of what Sakura had just said. Turning his hurt to anger, he stated coldly, "Well maybe I shouldn't have ever asked."

Sakura closed her eyes, "Maybe you shouldn't have." She didn't know what she was saying, but she didn't want to go on like this. "Maybe this was all a big mistake."

"Yeah, well maybe it is. Maybe we shouldn't continue with this mistake either." Sasuke said even more coldly than before. Sasuke shook with anger. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't care less about what happened now. He pulled his shirt on and walked out of the room. "Well, I'm outta here. Goodbye Sakura," He said as he slammed the door to her room and continued out of her apartment into the street.

The night air stung his chest as his shirt no longer had any of its buttons. He immediately felt guilty and wanted to turn back, but he heard what Sakura had to say. She didn't want to marry him. That was the whole reason why she had decided to keep the engagement a secret. At least he finally knew the reason. He still loved Sakura, but she would be better off this way without him. He had always hurt her. He didn't know how to love her without causing her pain. She was better off without him.

He hung his head down as he headed towards Ichiruka's ramen stand. He had an empty gorge within him he had to fill. He knew it would be impossible, but he was going to try to fill it with ramen. Normally, he would have gone to Naruto, but he just felt like being alone right now. He sat down on a stool and ordered the special.

As Sasuke waited for his order, he heard small sobs beside him. _'Sakura?'_ He thought hopeful for a moment as he turned around to see who the sobs were coming from. It wasn't Sakura. It was just Ino. She was slouched over on the counter with her face covered by her arms. She was crying. Sasuke turned back around. There wasn't any way that Sakura was going to chase after him. It was ridiculous to even think in the first place.

Soon, Sasuke's ramen was placed in front of him. He slowly took a few bites wondering how Naruto could eat it so often. He tried to ignore the sobs Ino was making as he ate, but he hated it when a woman cried. He figured he would have to at least talk to her before she would stop so he could eat his ramen in peace.

"Ino?" He asked as he turned to face her. He was didn't particularly want to talk to her, but she wouldn't stop that incessant crying.

"Yes?" She sniffed as she looked up at Sasuke in surprise. "Sasuke-kun?" Apparently, she hadn't even notice he was there.

Sasuke sighed. He couldn't turn around now. "What's wrong Ino?"

"Shika… Shika… Shikamaru broke up with me." She sobbed.

"Well, you're not the only one." Sasuke resigned as he placed his hand on her shoulder hoping that it would be the end of their conversation.

"You and Sakura… Broke up?" Ino asked still crying.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sasuke replied coldly. He knew he shouldn't have said anything about it.

"I… I just can't… He broke up with me." Ino's tears began to come flooding from her eyes now causing Sasuke to feel sorry for her. He had never seen Ino cry before.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked trying to put sympathy into his voice as he had seen Sakura do many times while talking to her friends.

"No," Ino muttered.

_'Oh good,'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he turned back to his ramen. He didn't want to listen to her problems either.

"It's that Temari girl's fault," Ino piped up.

'_Great,'_ He sighed to himself knowing that she didn't want to talk about it was too good to be true.

"He d-doesn't l-love m-me anymore," She stuttered as she tried to wipe away her tears.

"Sure he does," Sasuke stated in a monotonous tone. "I'm sure you were work things out," He stated once again trying to end the conversation.

"N-no he doesn't. H-he left with h-her."

"What?" He said in complete shock. He hadn't expected Shikamaru just to leave with another girl. He had figured they had just gotten into another one of their stupid arguments and took it a little too far.

"He said… He said I was…" Ino trailed off as tears formed in her eyes once more.

"He said you were what?"

"He said I was too…. Too... Troublesome!" She shrieked as she began to burst into tears again throwing her head back onto the counter.

Sasuke stared at Ino for a moment trying to think of ways to get her to stop crying. He didn't want to listen to her sobs. He had his own problems after all. After deciding that comforting her would be the only solution, he placed his hand back on Ino's back causing her to look up in surprise.

"Don't cry," He scolded. "He just doesn't deserve you. You're better off with someone else who loves you." He wiped away one of Ino's tears. "So don't cry, okay?"

"Sasuke-kun,"

Sakura stood in her bedroom bewildered at the events played out so far tonight. She hadn't run off to talk to Shikamaru; instead, she just sat on the edge of her bed. She had been wrong.

She was wrong to not tell everyone about her engagement to Sasuke. She looked at the ring on the chain that resided around her neck. _'Things would have been so much simpler if I had just told everyone,'_ she thought to herself.

She had also been wrong not to tell Sasuke why she had wanted to keep the engagement a secret. _'He would have believed me. Hell, he would have probably agreed with me if I had just told him I didn't want our friends to get hurt/jealous by it.' _

She had been wrong to not tell Sasuke that she had been secretly meeting with their guy friends to give them relationship advice so everything would get back to normal. _'He probably wouldn't have gotten mad. He wouldn't have said anything to the girls about it either.'_

She had also been wrong to interrupt their night together just because their friends were having relationship problems. _'The moment was finally right, and then I had to go blow it. Ha, I caused my own relationship problem by trying to handle everyone else's.'_

She was wrong to ever say that she had said yes too soon. _'I knew I wanted to say yes; there was no doubt in my mind when I answered him. It was all a lie. He wasn't even thinking about breaking up with me until I opened my big mouth.'_

She had been wrong to say that maybe their relationship was all a mistake. _'I don't know why I even said that. I never meant it. I loved every minute in our relationship. I loved being with him.'_

Most importantly though, she was wrong to ever let him walk out that door. _'I don't know what I was thinking. I let him walk out of my life. I just let him go. I let the love of my life go.' _

"What am I doing?!" She yelled out loud as she hopped to her feet. What had she been thinking? Here she was sulking around in her bedroom while she should be running after Sasuke. "I love him! I can't just let him go, not again!" She exclaimed as she ran through her apartment and out of the door not even bothering to slip on any shoes.

Tears were strolling down her face as she ran through the street. Where could he have gone? She didn't see him any where. _'He might have gone to Naruto's,' _she thought as she started running the way to his apartment. She ran past Ichiruka's ramen stand on her way. She slid to a stop as she heard voices from the stand. One of those voices was Sasuke's. The other's was probably Naruto's. _'That's right. He probably took him out for Ramen. That's right.' _

She stood in front of the curtain that stood between her and the love of her life. _'Here goes nothing,'_ she thought to herself ready to risk it all for Sasuke. She flung back the curtain knowing he was behind it. Her jaw dropped.

It wasn't Naruto he was with. It was Ino. And they were kissing. Sasuke and Ino were kissing.

Tears of pain flooded from her eyes. "I can't believe you!" She shouted as she tore the engagement ring off of her neck and threw it at Sasuke. "I can't believe I even came chasing after you!" She screamed pain obvious in her voice as she turned around and ran off.

Sasuke immediately shoved Ino off of him. He hadn't been kissing Ino. Ino had kissed him. There was a difference. He didn't know that she was just going to kiss him out of no where. It was just his luck that Sakura would show up the second Ino's lips met his. "Sakura!" He shouted calling after her, but she was already gone. He picked up the ring that had fallen to the ground. If he hadn't lost Sakura before, he had definitely lost her now.

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**A/N: I would reply to some of the lovely reviews I received from my last chapter, but I should be on my way to work as of this moment, but let me just say, You all are AWESOME reviewers. Oh, and just so you know, this is not the last chapter just in case there are any questions about it. **


	8. Misunderstandings

**A/N: I've figured out how many chapters this is going to be. It'll be 10 chapters long. That's right. Only two chapters left to go. Oh and just in case you're wondering, don't worry- this is still a Sasuke/Sakura story. Oh and I think this chapter may be a little confusing, but I'll have an explanation at the bottom so I hope everything will be clear. Please R&R!  
**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto.**

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The Strength of Love

Chapter Eight: Misunderstandings

"You were engaged?" Ino choked at the sight of the engagement ring that Sasuke was now staring at. He ignored her. He was too consumed in his thoughts to bother with explaining anything to her. He had just lost the one person that meant anything to him. There may have been a chance for him to get her back, but there certainly wasn't now. He felt as if his heart had been ripped to shreds, and he wanted to cry. He didn't; he was an Uchiha. He just remained staring at the ring.

"Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked. He hated her using 'kun' at the end of his name. It didn't sound right coming from anyone but Sakura.

He threw some money on the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets as he began to head off for the Uchiha district. He wanted to clear his mind. He thought about chasing after her, but he didn't. He figured she would never want to see him again- if he was her, he wouldn't want to see him either. Besides, even if he did chase her, he wouldn't know what to say. Words could not make up for everything he had just done.

He laid down in his bed just staring at the ceiling. The longer he stared, the more he couldn't believe everything that had just happened. It was like a nightmare. The look on her face when she found him at Ichiruka's Ramen stand wouldn't leave his mind. It killed him to see her look like that.

Suddenly, a thought hit him. Sakura had chased after him. She had wanted him back. Maybe, there was still a chance. He rolled over to glance at the clock on his bedside table. 3:03 AM. It was too late to chase after her now. She would probably be asleep. He sighed. Why hadn't he just chased after her when she ran off? He wanted to, but his body just didn't want to move. It may actually be too late for him now. What if someone else got to her first? He had waited to long.

Either way, he knew he had to fight to get her back. He couldn't just let her slip through his fingers without even putting up a good fight. He decided that first thing in the morning he would stop by her apartment. He still needed to fix her door anyways.

---

Sakura sat in her living room, crying. _'He didn't chase after me,' _she thought. She knew he wouldn't, but deep down she wanted him to. She could have forgiven him for kissing Ino, but now it seemed as if he didn't care enough about her to even bother. More tears flooded from her eyes as the scene of Sasuke and Ino kissing clouded her mind.

"Hello?" It was a male voice, but not of the person she had hoped it to be.

Sakura wiped away her tears, but it was still obvious she had been crying.

"Is everything okay here?" Neji asked as he examined the door off of its hinges.

"Yeah," Sakura answered avoiding eye contact with the Hyuga. She tried to be strong, and she didn't want him to know that she had been crying. "Is something wrong Neji?"

"Kind of," He looked down examining his feet, "It's Tenten."

"My advice didn't work?" Sakura questioned.

"Well, it would have…" Neji trailed off, "If I had taken it."

"What happened?"

"She broke up with me," he whispered quietly. "She said that I was too concerned with someone else."

"Someone else?"

"Yeah…" His voice grew quieter.

"Who?" Sakura asked. Tonight was turning out to be a marvelous night. Everyone was breaking up, and it all was over someone else. She wanted to cry again. There was the picture of Ino and Sasuke kissing again replaying over and over in her head. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't fight them anymore. She began to cry.

"What's wrong?" Neji somewhat shouted shocked to see Sakura crying. He didn't know what was wrong. She had seemed to be fine, but now that he thought about it, her face did seem a little red when he arrived. She may have been crying before he ever showed.

"N-nothing," She stuttered.

"Sakura…" He said compassionately.

"Sasuke and I… We broke up." It hurt for her to say those words.

"Sakura…" He trailed off again as he placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Then… then I chased after him, and… and…"

"And what?"

"And… I saw him… and Ino…. K-kissing" The tears began to flood from her eyes rapidly now.

"What?!" Neji shouted this time. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to kill the Uchiha now, but somewhere inside of him, he could tell something else was wrong. Sasuke was a bastard for sure, but he couldn't see him kissing Ino. Ino kissing him, maybe, but never Sasuke kissing Ino.

"It's t-the t-truth…" Sakura sniffed.

"Sakura, don't cry. I'm sure that-" He was planning on explaining that even thought he hated to admit it, Sasuke would have never started a kiss with Ino, but he was cut off by Sakura… with her lips.

"What are you doing?!" He asked startled as he pushed her off of him.

"Who?" She asked as she sat up and wiped away her tears.

"What do you mean who?" He was clearly confused now.

"Who did Tenten say you were concerned with?" She asked again determined for an answer.

"No one in particular," Neji mumbled not wanting to answer her.

"Who?" She asked once again. She was going to get an answer out of him if she had to ask all night.

"Sakura… I really don't want to say," He replied. He knew she knew who Tenten was talking about, but he didn't want to tell her… not now.

"Who?"

"Sakura… you know who,"

"I want you to say it. Who?"

"You, but-"

Sakura cut him off. "Then why do you refuse me?"

"Because you aren't thinking straight! You're hurt Sakura. You love Sasuke, not me. You and I both know that so stop pretending!" He shouted.

Sakura began to cry once again. What had gotten into her? She was hurt. She was acting out of being hurt, but why had she kissed Neji? Was it because she was vulnerable? Was it because she wanted him to comfort her? Had it been the same reason why Sasuke and Ino had kissed?

"Look Sakura, I really like you a whole lot, but the truth is… You love Sasuke. You always have. You always will." There was a hint of hurt and sadness in his voice, but he spoke the truth.

"I know," She mumbled. She knew that everything he had said was true. She loved Sasuke. She couldn't turn her feelings off just like that. Neji was a good guy. Tenten was lucky to have had him.

"Sakura, I'm going to leave okay? I know you want someone to comfort you, but I think it's best that I leave."

"It's 3:30 in the morning Neji. You should stay. Really," She wasn't going to try anything. She wasn't going to do anything stupid. She was just concerned about him with it being so late.

"It's okay. I can take care of myself, but it's okay Sakura for you to be angry, and it's okay for you to be hurt- Just don't let something great slip away okay?" He said on his way out of the door. He felt bad leaving her; he wanted to be with her, but he knew he was doing the right thing. He couldn't take advantage of her, not when she was in such a vulnerable state. Besides, maybe things with the Uchiha wouldn't work out still, and then he would get his chance fairly, but right now he wasn't going to be the one to step in the way of love.

"Sorry," He said as he bumped into someone.

"Hn," Sasuke growled. He couldn't go to sleep without talking to Sakura. He would at least have to see if Sakura was still awake. Maybe there was a chance they could talk before the night was over.

Neji stopped to turn around to say something as Sasuke passed him, but decided against it. Those two would have to work it out on their own.

"Are you up?" Sasuke called as he entered Sakura's apartment. He would have knocked, but there was an issue of the door being off of its hinges. He didn't hear a word, but continued into Sakura's living room to only find her sitting on the couch hugging her chest.

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke sit beside her. "What are you doing here?" She asked bitterly.

"Can we talk?"

"Do you mean you want to talk to me or shout at me? Because either way I'm thinking it's a no."

She was still angry. She had every right to be so. She was hurt.

"Sakura…"  
"What do you want to say?" She asked giving him a chance to explain.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said as he bowed his head. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Is that all you have to say?" She questioned with a mixture of sadness and anger in her voice. She secretly wanted Sasuke to say all the right things, but she was still angry.

"I didn't kiss Ino,"

"I saw you Sasuke!" She shouted suddenly arousing her anger. Why was he going to lie like that when he knew she saw them with her own two eyes?

"Well, I did, but not like that. I … Well… She kissed me."

"It takes two people to kiss Sasuke! You were one of them!"

"I… I know."

Sakura looked away from Sasuke. She felt somewhat guilty because she had just kissed Neji, but he had kissed Ino first. She had chased right after him. It had been about 15 minutes since they had broken up, and there she finds him already kissing another girl. And he was the one who had just accused her of cheating on him!

"I was trying to comfort her, and she was hurt. Shikamaru had just broken up with her. I guess she was just trying to find comfort and I was the one who happened to be there for her. I thought you would be able to understand." Sasuke reasoned. He didn't know that she had just kissed Neji.

His last words burned Sakura's skin. She knew all too well how Ino must have felt. She couldn't blame her for being so weak. Girls get like that when they are hurt. She couldn't blame Sasuke either. It wasn't his fault that he was the one that happened to be there. Ino would have probably kissed any guy that had tried to comfort her. She would have done the same thing. She did do the same thing.

"Look Sakura, I messed up, but… I don't want to not be with you. I want to marry you. I want to wake up with you beside me. I want to have children with you and I'm even okay with them having pink hair," Sasuke continued.

Sakura chuckled at the last part, but she felt even guiltier. He didn't deserve someone like her. He deserved someone much much better. A single tear slid down her face. She turned her head away from him quickly. She couldn't even look at him. It hurt too much.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her. When she didn't protest, he gently turned her face towards his and kissed her. He pulled back to see if she protested because he didn't want to force anything on her, but she didn't. He quickly entered a deep, long passionate kiss with her.

Sakura consumed herself in the kiss without thinking. She couldn't think of a place she would rather be, but suddenly it hit her again. She had just kissed Neji. She couldn't be doing this. She didn't deserve Sasuke. She couldn't kiss him now. She pushed him off and started crying.

"Sakura…" Sasuke said compassionately as he tried to wipe away her tears.

She quickly flung his hand away. He wouldn't want to even touch her if he knew what she had just done. She wasn't fit for him. "Just leave!" She shouted hysterically.

"You don't want me to leave," He whispered hoping it was true. Deep down, he knew Sakura wasn't mad at him anymore. She understood.

Oh but she understood too well. "I kissed Neji!"

"Huh?" Sasuke drew back confused.

"I kissed Neji right before you got here! Right here, on this very sofa so just leave!" She shouted again as the tears were still running down her face.

Sasuke was shocked. He had been too late. Neji beat him to her. He slowly got up staring at Sakura and turned to leave. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, but he knew it was true. He had run into Neji on his way here. He walked out of the apartment and into the cold night air. It started to rain. The sky was crying for him.

And that's how the night ended, full of misunderstandings.

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**A/N: Now for the explanation. The night ended full of misunderstandings. First of all, Sakura misunderstood that Sasuke hadn't been the one to kiss Ino. Then, Sasuke thought that Sakura didn't want him to chase after her when she did. Then, after Sakura told Sasuke about kissing Neji, she thinks that he left because she wasn't fit for him- that he didn't even want to touch her. Sasuke, on the other hand, misunderstood Sakura telling him about Neji as in she liked Neji now and that he (Sasuke) had lost his chance. Wow. My explanation might be even more confusing than the chapter itself. Well, I hope you understand. Any questions just ask. **

**Now I would like to say that this chapter wouldn't be possible without the help of ConTAMMYnatedProdigy. It was her idea that gave me all the ideas for this chapter. So basically, this chapter goes out for her. (Sorry if I changed your idea too much, but I really hope you like it!) You're an inspiration.**

**I would reply to everyone else's reviews, but I really want to go work on my new fanfic that I started (F&A). But seriously though, I want to thank every last person that reviews because in a way, you all are inspirations for me to write more as well. **

**Oh and I hope to finish this fanfic by the time school starts, but I can't make any promises, but I will update as soon as possible. Next chapter should be out really soon (in a week at the most) **


	9. The Bond Between Them

**A/N: I realize that the last chapter was full of drama and a lot of people dislike drama. I know everyone wanted Sasuke and Sakura to get back together, but I really didn't want to have them get back together just like that you know? Plus, if I did, it would have been my last chapter most likely as well. Anyways, I hope I didn't turn anybody off of this story, and I really think that all of you will like the way it ends. (I'm optimistic I know) Oh beware; this chapter is filled with fluff. So please, R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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**The Strength of Love**

**Chapter Nine: The Bond Between Them**

It had been months since Sasuke and Sakura had broke up. Summer had come to an end, and Autumn was ending too. There was little contact between Sasuke and Sakura in the past few months. They hadn't even spoke a word to each other until early November, and then it was only a 'hello' and a nod of recognition. It was now the first week of December, and neither had gone a day without thinking of the other.

Sasuke slowly walked through the market place in search of the relatively few things on his grocery list. He wasn't used to grocery shopping on his own so he didn't really know what to get. He settled on mainly getting tomatoes along with a few other essential products. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going until he walked into a certain pink kunoichi.

"Hn," He growled before he recognized who it was he had bumped into.

"Oh, sorry," Sakura said as she quickly turned away. She picked up a tomato and was examining it possibly to avoid looking at the raven haired love of her life she had let go.

"It's okay," He replied simply. He couldn't find it in himself to be mean to her; he still loved her.

"You know," Sakura whispered trying to start a conversation, "you really did get me hooked on these things." She laughed out of an awkward silence and tossed the tomato to Sasuke.

"Really?" He asked secretly happy that she had started a conversation. It already was officially the longest conversation they had had in months.

"Yeah, I've found some great recipes using tomatoes too!" She exclaimed happily breaking the awkwardness between them. She had an infectious way of doing that sort of thing.

"Aa," He didn't know what to say. He thought about asking her to make him a dish, but that would just seem... weird. He really wanted to try one though. He had only been eating straight raw tomatoes since their breakup.

"You've lost weight haven't you?" Sakura asked raising an eyebrow to Sasuke. Sasuke had never really had any 'weight' to him being as muscular as he was, but now, he just looked too thin.

"Yeah, I guess I don't eat much nowadays. I don't really know how to cook." He drooped his head. His stomach was growling.

Sakura laughed. The awkwardness had seemed to disappear between them. "I'll teach you some of the recipes. They're really simple. You're place, 6:00, just you and me, okay?"

"Just you... and me?" Sasuke repeated in a question-like fashion.

"Yeah! And... ohhh," The awkward feeling was back. She hadn't really realized everything she had said. "You can invite Naruto or Kakashi-sensei of you like," She said quietly.

"No, it's fine." He answered quickly. He wanted to say more, but he couldn't find the words. He wanted it to be only him and her.

She smiled softly, "Okay, I'll be seeing you, okay?" She turned and walked away giving Sasuke a wave goodbye. _'Well, this is going to be an interesting night,' _She thought to herself as she walked away to gather the rest of the items on her shopping list as well.

Sasuke stared at her as she walked away. He managed a smile- a small one, but a smile none the less. He was inwardly happy that he would have the chance to spend a night with Sakura even if it did turn out to be awkward. _'Maybe tonight won't be as lonely as the rest of them,' _He thought to himself. He quickly purchased a basket of tomatoes unsure of he would be supplying the tomatoes for the night or not. "Better make that two," He said to the store clerk.

* * *

Sakura opened the door and took a step outside. The cold air engulfed her. She pulled on her sweater as she looked towards the sky. The sky was filled with clouds, and it looked like it was going to snow. She hurriedly made her way to the Uchiha district afraid to get caught in the snow. She didn't want to be late. She wanted to make a good impression on Sasuke. 

By the time she had reached Sasuke's house, it had already began to flurry. Sakura thought about turning back and calling him to tell him she wouldn't be coming due to the snow, but she went any way. It wasn't that she disliked the snow. In fact, she loved it. She was just afraid that it would start snowing hard which would cause her to be stuck at Sasuke's house. The idea itself wasn't a bad one for Sakura, but she had to be careful not to annoy Sasuke.

She let out a small sigh before knocking on the door. Even though they had broken up, they could still be friends. They could still be friends. She repeated it over and over in her head preparing herself for an awkward atmosphere.

Sasuke slowly came to the door and invited her in. He was happy to see her. He had been afraid that the snow would stop her from coming so he was somewhat surprised when he heard the faint knock on his door. He led the way to his kitchen, and Sakura followed. He took the basket she was carrying and placed in on the counter. "Pans are in that cabinet," He said as he pointed to the third cabinet from the refrigerator.

"I know where everything is Sasuke," She smiled.

"Oh yeah," He quietly sighed as the awkward atmosphere began to settle. This was going to be a long night.

"So I think you're really going to like what I'm making tonight Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squeaked trying to rid the room of the awkwardness.

Sasuke smiled. That was the first time he had heard her say his name since the break up, and she still used 'kun' at the end of his name. It had never sounded so good to him. "Hmm?"

"Can't tell ya!" She laughed. "It's a surprise!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He hated surprises. He was excited though and very anxious to find out what the home made meal would be.

"Stop grunting and get yourself over here," Sakura stated as she looked over her shoulder at Sasuke who was sitting at the kitchen table. She had agreed after all to teach him how to cook, and he wasn't going to learn if he just sat there.

Sasuke tried to glare at her, but he found it hard to harden his eyes towards her. His eyes were always soft when looking at her, and he couldn't help it otherwise. He grudgingly got up and trudged over to the kitchen counter where Sakura was standing. She tossed him a tomato and laughed, "Slice this into thin layers, okay?"

Sasuke nodded and picked up a knife. He quickly glanced over to Sakura who was also slicing a tomato. Up, down, Up, down. Okay, it seemed simple enough. All he would have to do is slide the knife down the tomato. It was simple... until he tried to do it himself. When he tried to cut the tomato himself, he squished it and some of the juice shot into his eyes. He cursed loudly as he wiped his face causing Sakura to try to refrain from laughing but to no avail.

"Hn," He grunted as he started to stalk off clearly embarrassed though he wouldn't admit it.

Sakura bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing harder. She pulled on his wrist not to allow him to leave when their eyes met each others. She quickly blushed and turned away. "Just give it one more try okay?" She muttered avoiding eye contact with the raven hair boy.

He sighed. He would give it one more try. Slicing a tomato couldn't be but so hard. It was just merely a fluke that his first try had turned out the way it did. He walked back over to the counter where Sakura had sat another tomato and a knife. She had moved over a couple of feet and had her back turned towards him. He slowly picked up the knife and tried once again to slice the tomato. He was determined. He wasn't going to allow himself to be so easily 'defeated' by a simple tomato.

"God dammit!" He shouted as the tomato squished once again shoot juice everywhere. His onyx eyes switched to his sharingan out of anger.

Sakura turned around to see what the commotion was all about and found herself laughing hysterically again. She had never seen somebody have so much trouble slicing a tomato, AND she had taught Naruto how to cook. It really wasn't healthy for that boy to be eating so much ramen, but that wasn't the point.

"There really isn't a reason for you to get so angry."

Sasuke turned around to see the pink haired girl standing behind him with her arms crossed as she tapped her foot.

"Hn," He grunted as she tried to pass her by.

"I don't think so. You're not going anywhere. I said I was going to teach you how to cook."

"Hn," Sasuke stared at her. He wouldn't be able to get by her. He turned around slowly to attempt slicing yet another tomato. He picked up the knife once again when Sakura slid her dainty hands on top of his. She then placed her other hand on the other side of him on his other hand. She picked that hand of his up and placed it gently on the tomato, but still didn't remove her hand. Sasuke was flustered and wasn't able to speak. He just stared at her hands enjoying her gentle touch.

"You're much too rough, Sasuke-kun," She smiled over top of his shoulders. She had to stand on her tip toes, but still managed to lift herself up high enough to peer over his shoulders. "You need to be more gentle, like this" She whispered as started slicing the tomato with Sasuke's hand.

Sakura was really close to him, and Sasuke couldn't help but notice. He could feel her breath against his neck. It was so warm, so welcoming. He quickly came to ease with Sakura's being there when he realized he was actually slicing the tomato himself! Sakura had removed her hands and was now watching him as he gently continued to slice the tomato into the thin slices she had asked him to make. She smiled, "I always knew you had a gentle touch despite that hard outer appearance."

She hadn't realized what she had said once again. Those things just seemed to slide out of her mouth without thinking. She never thought about the implications of what she said around him fore she knew that secretly she meant every one of them. She slightly blushed as she went back to slicing her own tomato.

Soon, Sasuke walked over to where Sakura was now standing at the sink washing some cherries. _'Cherries?' _He thought trying to figure out what exactly Sakura planned on making. He hated cherries- too sweet for his taste. "Here," He said simply as he handed her the plate of sliced tomatoes.

"Thanks! Now, could you get me some basil?" She asked politely.

"I don't think I have any," He replied as he rummaged through one of his kitchen cabinets.

"I didn't think you would," She laughed and pointed at her basket, "There's some in there okay?"

He went and looked in the basket before realizing that he didn't really know what basil was. Nothing in the basket was labeled. He felt somewhat embarrassed not knowing what to look for. "Actually, can you just bring me the whole basket? I'm going to need all the ingredients soon anyway," Sakura called over her shoulder. Sasuke was relieved. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Sakura.

After he handed her the basket, she started to pull out an array of different items half of which Sasuke didn't even recognize. She had certainly come prepared. He figured that Sakura knew he wouldn't have half of thing ingredients she needed. "This is mozzarella cheese," She said as he pointed to a bag containing shredded cheese. "It has a more subtle taste than other cheeses."

"Okay?"

"You're going to have to learn the ingredients if you want to learn how to cook," She sighed before continuing pointing out the rest of the ingredients. She had named and described french bread, a special kind of salt and pepper, vinegar, basil, garlic, olive oil, and some sun dried tomatoes as well. Sasuke nodded after she finished describing all of the ingredients wondering if this recipe was going to be as simple as she said it would be. He also wondered where Sakura had learned to cook so well.

"Alright, first turn on the oven and wait for about five minutes. Now, try to watch and copy what I do okay?" Sakura asked as Sasuke was already a step ahead of her. He had already flashed his eyes into his sharingan. She shook her head, "I think you're going a little overboard now don't you?"

He shrugged and began to watch Sakura as she started to turn the array of ingredients into a meal. He had a hard time keeping up with her even with the sharingan activated. He truly marveled at Sakura's cooking skills. He had always known that Sakura had been a good cook, but he didn't realize all the work she put into her meals. This only made Sasuke come to admire her more. He gazed at her as she put the concoction into the oven and sat a timer. She seemed to have changed in the last couple of months. She was still warm and friendly, but her eyes told a different story. He thought that she would be happier now that she was with Neji (or at least he assumed she was). He stared at her until a certain pain up welled in his chest.

She no longer wore the silver band with emeralds encrusted in it on her hand anymore. Somehow, he never thought that Sakura would take that ring off even though they were over. He guessed he had been foolish to believe so, but it seemed to bother him more than it should. Her words seared across his memory. _"It's kind of my proof of the bond between us,"_ It seemed to indefinitely be a sign that they no longer shared that bond between them even though he had hoped there was still a small one. He sighed. He knew all about breaking bonds, but he never expected to be at the end of a broken one again.

"So how are things with you and Neji?" He mumbled causing there to be an awkward atmosphere to resurface.

She raised her eyebrow, blushing before answering, "What do you mean with me and Neji?"

"You're happy with him right?" He didn't really want to know the answer afraid of what it could be, but he had to ask. He had to know the answer.

"I'm not sure what you mean Sasuke-kun. We're not dating or anything like that." She whispered as she looked down to hide her blush.

"You're not?" He replied quickly somewhat relieved at the fact that Sakura was indeed not dating Neji.

"No." She said simply as she stared out the window. "It's still snowing, just flurries though," She mentioned trying to change the subject.

Sasuke nodded as he walked over to the window where Sakura was standing. He felt that the atmosphere itself had lightened just knowing that Sakura and Neji were not an item. Though, it didn't ease all of tension as Sasuke couldn't get his mind off of the ring that was missing from her finger. _'I wonder what she did with it,' _He thought to himself as he continued to stare out of the window with his familiar stoic look.

Sakura pondered Sasuke's question as to why he wanted to know. _'It's only natural to be curious,' _She thought to herself. She smiled to herself realizing that suddenly things seemed a little like how they used to be. She grasped Sasuke's hand and gave him a smile, "Let's go." She tugged him outside.

She smiled as she looked towards the sky. "I love the snow," She finally said after a few moments and stuck her tongue out.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow to the pink haired girl. He had never seen someone act so strangely. What exactly was she trying to do?

"Don't tell me you've never," Sakura said as her eyes widened.

"I've never what?"

"You've never tried to catch snowflakes on your tongue?" She asked in disbelief that he had never ever done so.

"No," He said coolly.

"Oh come on Sasuke-kun!" She tried to convince him to do so now with her.

"No,"

"Sasuke-kun!" She wined.

He sighed, "Fine…"

She flashed him a smile and tilted her head back towards the sky with her tongue stuck out. He did the same thing reluctantly as he had never done anything so childish in his life. Suddenly a cool sensation snuck its way onto his warm tongue. _'That felt good,' _He thought as he stuck his tongue out a little further. Maybe there was something behind this childish act anyways.

Sakura smiled at him pleased at the fact that Sasuke was enjoying himself. He had never bothered to stop and take advantage of the small pleasures in life like these. Maybe that was why they had always worked so well together. They always seemed to balance each other out.

**Ding! **

They heard the timer from the kitchen go off. It was all well and fine because it was getting cold out there seeing as neither were wearing shoes. They rushed back into the kitchen laughing. The first time they had laughed together in months. It was just like old times.

Sakura walked over towards the oven and pulled out the tray containing 8 slices of bread stacked with all the ingredients she had previously had. "All done!" She exclaimed pleased with the outcome of their cooking. It was obvious which ones Sakura had made and which one's Sasuke had made by appearance. Sakura's were all neat and very appetizing, and Sasuke's were…. Uh a little messy to say the least.

"Let's eat in the living room," Sasuke ordered as Sakura placed their meal on two different plates.

"Why?"

"There's a fireplace in there," He replied simply as he led their way into the living room.

"It sure is dark in here," Sakura noted. There weren't any lights in there usually the outside kept the room light, but when it was dark outside it was pitched black.

Sasuke stumbled over to the fireplace and used his fireball jutsu to light the fireplace. Sakura rolled her eyes. He always had to do things the ninja way. "That better?" He asked as he sat on the floor at on one side of the small table.

Sakura sat down beside him sure to keep her distance. "Yep!"

"You never told me what this was," He said as he took a bite into one of the pieces Sakura had made. He noticed that Sakura had placed 3 of the ones she had made on his plate and only one of his. It was as delicious as it smelled. It had been a while since Sasuke had tasted something this good. It was usually either raw tomatoes or ramen with Naruto these days.

"Double Tomato Bruschetta," She smiled sheepishly knowing the name would mean nothing to Sasuke.

"It's good," He said to be humble. He was really impressed by Sakura's cooking abilities.

Sakura smiled always open to compliments on her cooking. "Do you think you could make it yourself now?"

"Nope,"

Sakura laughed. It really wasn't as simple as she made it out to be.

Sasuke took a bite of one of the pieces that he had made himself. It tasted different from Sakura's. It seemed as if something was missing from his that was in hers. "Why does this one taste different from the ones you made?" He asked positive that it wasn't just because Sakura was a better cook that he was.

"I put cherries in the ones I made," She smiled. She knew that Sasuke wasn't particularly fond of cherries, but she had a feeling that he would like them if used in the right way.

"What?" Sasuke asked as his eyes widened. He then remembered that Sakura had been washing cherries earlier when they were cooking, but he would have never imagined that they were in the ones she made. He liked the ones she had made much more.

Sakura laughed, "I knew you wouldn't even try them if I told you they were in there." She was right. He wouldn't have touched them with a ten foot pole, none the less eat them.

"That's a strange pair," He said as he munched down on another one of the pieces Sakura had made.

"Well, cherries are really sweet and tomatoes are kind of sour you know? Their tastes when used properly together balance it both out."

"You're a lot like a cherry Sakura," He stated as he continued to munch on the food.

Sakura blushed, _'and you're like a tomato.' _Only she didn't say it out loud, she thought it better to keep that piece of information to herself. She actually wasn't sure if Sasuke was going to like the ones with cherries, but she was pleased he did. She missed cooking for him.

Sasuke quickly finished eating everything on his plate only to find that he wanted more. He slyly eyed Sakura's plate realizing there was still one piece on her plate she didn't seem to bother. It was one that she had made too. He tried to sneak it off of her plate but to no avail. She quickly smacked his hand away when he neared her plate.

"You're worse than Naruto!" She laughed as she picked up the last piece she had prepared.

Sasuke growled, "Don't compare me to him."

"I will when you keep trying to steal my food!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

"Do you want the last piece Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in such an innocently sweet way.

Sasuke perked up and nodded as he started to reach of it out of her hand.

"You'll have to get it from me first!" Sakura exclaimed as she held it high out of her reach. Sasuke scowled as he tried to reach for it, but Sakura kept pulling it further and further over her head preventing him on taking it. Normally, he would have just got up and taken it from her or not even bothered, but for some reason he just kept reaching for it until he fell on top of her.

"Sasuke-kun!" She squealed surprised at the somewhat compromising position they were now in. Sasuke was over top of her only supporting himself by his hands on either side of her neck.

Sasuke couldn't stop staring at her chest, but not for the reason one would think. When Sakura had toppled over a small, thin silver chain slid out from underneath her shirt where it had been resting. It wasn't the chain that had caught his attention though; it was what lied upon it.

A small silver ring lied at the end of the chain. It had little green emeralds embedded in it that matched her eyes. It was the same ring he had given her over a year ago. It was the proof of the bond between them still existed and was yet to be broke.

"You still have that?" He asked in a whisper never moving from his position.

"I'd feel naked without it," She replied as she quickly slid from underneath of him blushing furiously. She hadn't ever taken it off except to put it on a chain. She couldn't let go of it as what it meant to her. If she wore it, she always felt as if there was still the bond between them. Out of embarrassment, she quickly grabbed her stuff and dashed out of Sasuke's door towards her apartment. She was sure she looked like an idiot to him now trying to hold onto something that wasn't there.

Sasuke never moved a muscle from he had fallen. He smiled as he licked his lips that still contained the perfect taste of cherries and tomatoes. Sakura was a cherry, and he was a tomato. A peculiar pair they made, but it turned out to be perfect when used just right. They were a perfect couple or would be. He couldn't give up on her, not just yet. The bond he had wished was still there was. There was still that bond between them.

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**A/N: Yeah so as I said in the last chapter, the next chapter (chapter 10) will be the final chapter of TSofL. If anyone has any ideas of how they want it to end, leave it in a review. I might not use it, but I will definitely take it into consideration. After all, I'm writing this story for you guys! **


	10. The Strength of Love

**A/N: This is my last chapter of this story. Sniff Sniff. It's been fun writing this story, but at last, it's over. You've guys have been great! I tried to give everyone a little bit of what they wanted in this last chapter, but I know I couldn't do some. I hope you guys enjoy! I'm off to work on my next story F&A! Later! (oh and PLEASE let me know if you liked it!)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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The Strength of Love

Chapter 10: The Strength of Love

Sakura ran into her room and flung herself into her pillow tears streaming down her face. She couldn't face everything that had happened tonight. It was all just too painful. She knew she shouldn't have invited herself over to fix him dinner, but she had convinced herself that she could handle it. She was the Hokage's personal apprentice! She could handle anything! She could handle everything, everything but her own feelings.

No, that was the one thing she couldn't handle nor could she face. Sakura could remember everything- the closeness of Sasuke's face to her own, the feel of his warm breath against the smooth skin of her cheek. Her memories all came flooding back in that single instance. She remembered the first date, the first kiss, his proposal, the image of him kissing Ino only minutes after their break up, the look on his face when she admitted to kissing Neji not too long after . . . All of those memories were all too hard to face. They were all just hurtful reminders of her past happiness- the happiness she had destroyed.

Sakura had avoided confronting her own feelings, but tonight, she no longer had the choice. After leaving Sasuke's, her memories of them just continued to plague her mind. She wiped away her tears as she walked over to her desk drawer. She pulled out a small album and placed it on her bed. She flipped through the first couple of pages as she slowly began to stare at each picture longer and longer.

Each picture contained a former Sasuke and Sakura back when they were still a couple. There were pictures of them on dates together, just goofing around, and even one of them kissing. Sakura struggled to fight back the tears as she looked at each picture more carefully. Each of them shared one common thread that connected them all. The smile she wore in each picture was one of pure happiness. It was a smile Sakura was sure she would never wear again.

When she reached the final page, the tears she had been struggling to hold back came flooding from her eyes. She picked up the tear stained paper and began to read every word of it. _'You are cordially invited to witness the joining of both Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura in matrimony.' _It was the wedding invitations that they had decided on. It was printed on a crisp, white paper using both light pink and dark blue ink. It contained other information such as the date and time the wedding would have taken place. She would have never thought a simple piece of paper would cause her to break in such a way that she had.

It was depressing to have everything she ever wanted dangling in front of her face knowing that she could never have him. It was depressing to know exactly how great it would feel to have him because she had been with him before. It was depressing to know that she was the reason he was gone and that she would she would never have him back again. Sakura threw the album across the room and buried her face into her pillow. She had avoided crying for the past couple of months, but tonight, she finally was going to cry.

Sasuke stood outside of Sakura's apartment. It had been hours since Sakura had left, or rather, ran away from his house. He would have knocked on the door, but by the looks of it, it still needed to be fixed as the door looked as if it would fall if the tiniest bit of pressure was to be applied. He waited for a few more minutes as he drew up the courage to enter the apartment of the girl he still loved. He finally picked the door up and set it aside making a small 'thump' as it hit the ground.

Sakura's head shot up out of her pillow upon hearing the sound. "Could it be?" She asked herself hoping it was Sasuke. _'No, it couldn't . . . '_ She thought answering her own question. She slowly gathered herself by straightening her hair and her clothing. She slowly made her way down the stairs with a kunai in hand ready to harm the intruder if they were at all dangerous or threatening.

Sasuke was about ready to call for Sakura when a kunai came whizzing by his ear. To say he was surprised would be a drastic understatement.

"Sakura!" He shouted as his eyes fell upon the pink haired kunoichi who was already holding another kunai in her hand.

"I don't know who you are or what you know about me," She hissed, "But I suggest you get out." She flung the other kunai after finishing which Sasuke barely dodged.

"Sakura, it's me! Sasuke!" He shouted as he tried to approach the distressed kunoichi.

"No, the Sasuke I know wouldn't ever have come chasing after me, not after everything I've done. I only made things even more awkward after tonight!" She shouted as Sasuke enclosed on her.

"Sakura," He said firmly as he grasped her bare shoulders, "It's me, Sasuke. I proposed to you on my birthday and got mad because Shikamaru interrupted us."

"Everyone knows that now! Tell me something only the real Sasuke would know," She shouted as tears began to roll down her face. She reached for another kunai.

Sasuke bit his lip. He really didn't want to say this, not now, not ever again. "I kissed Ino only minutes after we broke up. And you, you kissed Neji not too long after witnessing Ino's and my kiss at Ichirukia's ramen stand." Sasuke looked down. He remembered the look on her face when she found them kissing. He then remembered the pain he felt as she told him that she had kissed Neji. He had realized then it had already been too late.

Sakura released her grip on the kunai she had been grasping causing it to fall to the ground. "Sasuke-kun," She muttered as she buried her face into his chest.

He placed his arm around Sakura to comfort her. He stroked her soft pink hair for the next few moments until he was sure that she had stopped crying. "Care to go for a walk?" He asked as Sakura lifter her head ready to ask a question.

"Sure..." She stated as Sasuke released his grip on her.

Sasuke escorted her out of the door, and stopped. "I'm really going to have to fix that," He laughed trying to brighten the mood some. Sakura merely narrowed her eyes and dropped her head not wanting to meet Sasuke's gaze.

Sasuke in turn dropped his head as well. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He had been sure that Sakura still felt the same way about him, but now he wasn't so confident about that. She didn't seem too excited or happy about him being there either. He sighed inwardly. He still had to give it a try. After all, Sakura was the one person who was worth it.

It was a relatively bright night. The snow had stopped falling and now covered the ground with a bright, white blanket. The moon was full, and the stars covered the sky. The snow only reflected the light causing the two's path to be brightly lit.

As they continued down the street, the night air began to get to Sakura causing her to shiver. Sasuke pulled her close hoping to shield her from the bitter air. Sakura sighed as her feeling of guilt only grew more.

Suddenly, Sakura came to a halt. "Sasuke-kun," She whispered in a barely audible tone.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked somewhat startled at Sakura's sudden halt.

"Here, this is yours," She whispered even more quietly than before as she reached around her neck and took off the necklace that contained the ring Sasuke had given her what seemed so long ago.

"You keep it," He stated as he tried to hand it back to her.

"No," She stated firmly but with a hint of weakness in her tone. It was all she could do to fight back the tears. She turned to runaway but Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist.

"Sakura..."

"Sasuke let me go!" She screamed as the tears continued to fall from her emerald green eyes.

"No," He stated fiercely. He was not going to let her go so easily. He picked her up and carried her continuing on his path despite Sakura's protest.

"Let me down!" She shouted once again, and to her surprise, he did.

"Sakura, I don't want to let you go."

"Too bad!" She didn't really want to say that, but irregardless, she did.

"Sakura," Sasuke said frankly, "I'm not going to let you go so easily again."

"It's the best for the both of us Sasuke-kun!" Her voice weakened at the end of the sentence. It was a lie, but she knew part of it was true. Sasuke would indeed be better off without her. She didn't deserve him.

"You can't tell me you don't feel the same way about me as I feel about you!" He shouted.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun, I can." She bit her lip. It was a lie. She knew it was a lie, and so did Sasuke. It was easy to tell when Sakura was lying because she couldn't keep a straight face. She would either fidget uncontrollably or, as in this case, bite her lip.

"You're lying Sakura," He said as a smirk grew on his face.

"What was that?" Sakura asked as her eyes narrowed. Even though she knew she was indeed lying, it still offended her to be called out on it.

"You heard me. You're lying." He said simply as his smirk continued to grow. He was confident now. He knew that Sakura did feel the same way about him. He had be unsure of it, but now he was certain.

"Sasuke-kun, "She whimpered. Tears were flowing uncontrollably from her eyes now. "You don't deserve someone like me..." She turned away trying not to meet Sasuke's gaze.

"What?"

"You deserve so much better than me! I'm nothing- a speck on your shoe at best! I faulted you for Ino and turned around and did the same exact thing! I don't deserve you..."

"But Sakura, I want to give you everything you've ever wanted."

"No, you don't..." She said still trying to convince him to leave her.

"Sakura, look-" He started to say something but Sakura interrupted him.

"You don't really care about me Sasuke-kun. You just think you do. None of this is real-"

Sasuke returned the favor and cut Sakura off, but this time, with his lips. "Was that real enough for you?"

Sakura just looked away. It felt so good, the feeling of his lips against hers once again. She had missed it so much, but felt as if she didn't deserve it.

"And if I didn't really care about you, would I do all this?" He asked as he turned Sakura around.

Sakura's jaw dropped. She was standing right in front of a trellis covered in white Christmas lights. There were also little floor lamps that led up to the trellis that made an aisle way. She was shocked that she hadn't noticed them before. There was also a few vines one the trellis making it look even more beautiful than she imagined.

"Sasuke-kun, this is what-"

"You imagined our wedding would be like right?"

She quietly nodded still in shock and awe of the scene before her. It was exactly what she had imagined, only more beautiful and without the guests.

"I told you I was listening," He laughed.

Sakura let out a small chuckle before a lone tear slid down her face.

Sasuke immediately wiped it away and placed his hand against her soft chin bringing her head up to meet his eyes.

"Sakura, I know you think I would be better off without you. I've spent the last few months trying to convince myself of that. I've thought the same about you- that you would be better off without me, and even though that may be true, I won't believe it. I couldn't ever convince myself that my life would be better without you. I've spent numerous nights plagued with the feeling of loneliness just as I used too. I thought I could handle that loneliness, and maybe I can, but I don't want to."

Sakura's eyes became watery. She was going to cry again.

"My life isn't the same without you. I don't ever want to let you go. I want to be with you and only you. You're the only person that's worth all this." Sasuke finished firmly as he let go of her chin.

"But Sasuke-kun, why?" She muttered almost out of breath.

"Why Sakura?" He asked as his eyes softened, "Because I love you."

"Oh Sasuke-kun," She exclaimed for the first time with happiness in her voice, "I love you too!" She threw her arms around him and began to kiss him passionately before quickly drawing back again. Her eyes halfway closed. "Sasuke-kun, I'm sor-"

He cut her off, "What part of 'I love you' don't you understand?"

She smiled, "Love means never having to say you're sorry,"

And with that, they entered a long passionate kiss they both had been longing for. The world around them seemed to stop as the two were just enjoying the love they always had shared with each other. The undying love that would never end.

Finally, after the two had to break apart to gasp for air, Sasuke smirked. "So I'm thinking about a Spring wedding,"

-----------

Music was being played. It was the slow familiar beat the couple had come to love. "This really is our song now, isn't it Sasuke-kun?" She asked with a whisper in his ear sending tingles up his spine. She was wearing a long, flowing white gown. It was rather simple but made her look more radiant than ever.

"It always was," He replied as he pulled her even closer. He would never have to let her go now.

"Remember when you first told me you thought this song described us?" She whispered as she ran her fingers through his raven black hair.

"Yeah, and I meant every word of it,"

"Well," She said as she pulled her back to look him in the eye, "You're mine too."

Sasuke lips twisted into a smile, and he put his forehead against hers before entering a passionate kiss in the middle of the dance floor.

"Hey! You two break it up! This is a public place. You act like you're married or something!" Naruto said obnoxiously with his signature grin on his face as he pushed in between the couple.

"Naruto," Sakura said warningly, "We _are_ married. This is our reception."

"Oh really? Hehe," He laughed already knowing everything Sakura had just told him.

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered.

"Sasuke-kun," She stated warningly again.

"What? He _is _a interruption."

"Oh and about our honeymoon," Sakura said with a seductive smile on her face.

Sasuke perked up immediately, "What?"

"There will be no interruptions," Sakura smiled as she reached down to her ankle and pulled out her cellphone. She tossed it over her shoulder and someone almost immediately stepped on it breaking it to pieces.

Sasuke smiled. "I wouldn't want it any other way," He stated before entering another kiss with Sakura.

**Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! **

"Naruto..." Sasuke stated as his eyes flashed to his Sharingan.

"It's time for the best man's speech! So if you all would take your seats, and that means you too Sasuke-teme."

"I thought he wasn't doing a speech," Sasuke whispered to Sakura before taking their seats.

Sakura gave him a confused look. "Maybe Hinata helped him with one anyway,"

"But first, there's a matter of business that needs to be taken care of," Naruto said giving Sakura a wink. She gave him a thumb's up. Now she knew what was going on.

Naruto slowly walked over to Hinata and dropped to one knee. "Hinata-chan, will you marry me?"

She turned about 7 shades of red and tears came flowing from her eyes. "Yes!" She exclaimed throwing her arms around his neck initiating a passionate kiss that he gladly returned. Everyone in the room clapped and cheered.

"Anyways," Naruto continued rather flustered after breaking away from Hinata, "I do have a speech to make so you all better listen up. It's the best best man speech ever! Believe it!"

Kiba shouted from the back of the room, "Just get on with the speech!"

Naruto started to growl, but decided to move on with his speech as he caught a glimpse of Sakura's and Sasuke's glare. "Anyways, we all knew that Sakura-chan would always love Sasuke-teme, but her love was always unrequited. Then, with the help of Shikamaru, Sasuke finally came to his senses and fell in love with Sakura-chan. Their love was obvious to the world around them. I think we all can admit that their obvious love for each other affected us in some kind of way. Some of us became insecure about our own relationships," He gave Hinata a quick glance and a smile.

"Others became jealous of the love they shared and thought that someone else would give them the same love only to be proven wrong," Naruto continued. Shikamaru glanced over to Ino. Temari and Shikamaru had broken up. He always said that it was because she was more troublesome than Ino, but everyone knew it was because Ino had always had his heart. He leaned over and gave Ino a peck on the cheek who blushed and smiled back at him.

"Even some of us thought that they would share the same love if they had one of them- Sasuke or Sakura," Naruto stopped. Neji looked over to Tenten who was sitting beside him. They hadn't talked since their break up. They shared a glance before blushing, and looking away. Neji slid his hand over on Tenten's. She squeezed it a little and gave him a smile.

"But in the end, it was obvious that none of the above was true. Sasuke and Sakura, I like to think, always shared this love and had only grown with the years. Their love is passionate, subtle, and consummate- a love that made us all envious. Their love has undergone a many of obstacles- both faulting at one point or another- but in the end they always made it through only causing the bond between them to grow."

Sasuke glanced at Sakura who smiled back at him teary eyed. He placed his hand on her smooth cheek. They both mouthed 'I love you' to each other and entered a passionate kiss oblivious to the world around them.

"And the fact that we're here today for their wedding is only proof of the strength of love."


End file.
